PS 


A86 


1 1  U 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 

Los  Angeles 


Form  L-l 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 

;GT  s  z  inn? 

OCT25 


1929 


Form  L-9 


POETICAL  WORKS.  Household  Edition,  With 
Portrait.  i2mo,  $1.50  ;  full  gilt,  $2.00. 

POEMS.     i6mo,  $1.25. 

AN  IDYL  OF  WORK.     i6mo,  £1.25. 

WILD  ROSES  OF  CAPE  ANN,  AND  OTHER  POEMS. 
i6mo,  gilt  top,  $1.25. 

CHILDHOOD  SONGS.     Illustrated.     i2im>,  $1.00. 
EASTER    GLEAMS.      Poems.      i6roo,    parchment 
paper,  75  cents. 

AS    IT   IS   IN    HEAVEN.     i6mo,  $1.00. 
AT  THE   BEAUTIFUL  GATE,  AND  OTHBR  SONGS 
or  FAITH.     i6sno,  $1.00. 

THE    UNSEEN    FRIEND.     i6mo,  $1.00. 

A    NEW    ENGLAND    GIRLHOOD,    outlined    from 

Memory.     In  Riverside  Library  for  Young  People. 

i6mo,  75  cents. 
Holiday  Edition.     i6mo,  $1.25. 

BREATHINGS  OF  THE  BETTER  LIFE.  Edited  by 
LUCY  LARCOM.  i8mo,  $1.25. 

ROADSIDE  POEMS  FOR  SUMMER  TRAVELLERS. 
Selected  by  LVCY  LARCOM.  i8mo,  #1.00. 

HILLSIDE  AND  SEASIDE  IN  POETRY.  Selected 
by  LUCY  LARCOM.  i8mo,  $1.00. 

BECKONINGS  FOR  EVERY  DAY.  A  Collection  of 
Quotations  for  each  day  in  the  year.  Compiled  by 
LUCY  LARCOM.  i6mo,  $1.00. 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY, 

BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK. 


AT  THE  BEAUTIFUL  GATE 


AND 


OTHER   SONGS   OF  FAITH 


BY 


LUCY   LARCOM 


BOSTON    AND    NEW   YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND   COMPANY 


1893 


Copyright,  1892, 
BY  LUCY  LARCOM. 

All  rights  reserved. 


THIRD    EDITION. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  8.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Co. 


TO  MY  DEAREST  SISTER 

EMELINE, 

WHO  TAUGHT  MY  CHILDHOOD  TO   SEE   THAT 
POETRY  AND  RELIGION  ARE  ONE, 

I  DEDICATE 

THIS  COLLECTION  OF  MY  SONGS  AND  HYMNS, 
WHICH  HAS  JUST  MISSED 
HER  EARTHLY  APPROVAL. 


E.  A.  S. 

Passed  hence,  Sunday,  July  17, 1892. 

My  Sister-Spirit,  given  to  me 

To  love  me  with  an  angeVs  love, 
Whom  I  no  more  on  earth  shall  see, 

I  claim  thee,  in  thy  house  above  ! 

Our  love  had  roots  beyond  the  earth, 

Though  planted  by  one  roof-tree  here  ; 
Where  now  thou  art  it  had  its  birth,  — 
Beside  Life's  River,  cool  and  clear. 

And  by  its  fragrance  in  my  heart  — 
The  breath  of  an  immortal  flower  — 

I  know  we  are  not  far  apart ; 
So  life  grows  sweeter,  hour  by  hour. 

God  gives  to  us  the  Love  He  is  : 
No  spray  of  this  true  Vine  can  die: 

Loving  as  He  loves,  we  are  His; 
This  is  our  immortality.  — 

Dear  Saviour-Friend,  Immanuel, 
In  whom  all  other  friends  we  find, 

With  us  as  with  our  angels  dwell, 
Nor  let  them  leave  us  far  behind  ! 

So  well  she  knew  Thy  Face  Divine, 
We  felt  her  life  Thy  Presence  prove : 

O  hide  our  lives  with  hers,  in  Thine  ! 
For  Thou  art  Heaven,  since  Thou  art  Love ! 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


THE  suggestion  by  friends,  that  such  of  the  wri 
ter's  lyrics  as  are  of  an  especially  serious  and  de 
votional  character  should  be  brought  together  in  a 
small  volume,  has  led  to  the  following  collection. 
Many  of  these  —  more  than  a  third,  perhaps  — 
have  been  written  since  the  complete  (Household) 
edition  of  her  poems  was  published,  about  ten  years 
ago,  and  are  not  included  in  that  edition.  Others 
are  now  for  the  first  time  in  print.  In  selecting 
from  her  more  recent  verses,  as  well  as  from  those 
which  have  become  somewhat  familiar,  choice  has 
been  made  chiefly  of  such  as  may  be  called  hymns, 
being  at  once  lyrical  and  devotional ;  and  also  of 
such  as  have  borne  the  test  of  a  somewhat  wide 
approval. 

They  do  not  claim  to  be  songs  or  hymns  in  any 
restricted  sense,  although  a  number  of  them  have 
been  included  in  hymn-books,  both  here  and  in 
England.  The  themes  of  some  of  them  are  drawn 
from  nature  and  from  friendship,  as  well  as  from 


vi  PREFATORY  NOTE 

religion ;  and  some  of  them  may  be  regarded  sim 
ply  as  meditations.  But  hymns  may  be  written 
either  to  read  or  to  sing ;  and  sometimes  not  even 
to  read  aloud,  but  only  for  the  wordless  response 
of  feeling  and  thought,  —  the  truest  singing  being 
indeed  but  a  voice-rendering  of  this  silent  inner 
melody.  That  nature  and  human  affection  belong 
to  our  most  sacred  inspirations,  scarcely  needs  to 
be  affirmed. 

Just  as  this  book  was  ready  for  the  press,  the 
sad  tidings  came  of  the  withdrawal  from  earth  of 
one  from  whom  the  writer  received  her  earliest 
encouragement  to  publish  her  collected  verses, — 
one  whose  approbation  has  always  been  far  more 
to  her  than  any  public  recognition.  It  is  with  deep 
regret  that  this  volume  is  sent  forth  lacking  the 
personal  word  of  benediction  from  our  beloved  poet 
Whittier,  never  hitherto  withheld  from  a  book  of 
hers,  —  with  sincere  sorrow  that  the  friendly  coun 
sel  and  sympathy,  always  so  generously  given,  can 
never  again  be  expected  or  received.  In  adding 
the  verses  upon  the  concluding  page,  the  volume  is 
associated,  in  the  only  way  now  possible,  with  a 
friendship  which  has  given  her  whole  life  a  stronger 
hold  upon  immortality,  —  with  a  memory  most  hal 
lowed  and  most  dear. 

The  poem  entitled  "Elizabeth,"  though  hardly 
to  be  classified  as  song  or  hymn,  seems  naturally  to 


PEEFATOEY  NOTE  Vll 

find  a  place  beside  "  Withdrawal,"  thus  linking  the 
memory  of  two  lives  always  thought  of  as  one  by 
those  who  knew  them  best,  now  reunited  beyond 
the  Beautiful  Gate  that  opens  into  the  Unseen. 

The  poet's  last  word  to  the  writer  —  in  an  unfin 
ished  letter  —  was  a  warm  approval  of  her  recent 
volumes,  "  As  it  is  in  Heaven,"  and  "  The  Unseen 
Friend."  To  know  this  may  add  to  the  value  of 
those  little  books  with  readers  who  have  given 
them  so  cordial  a  welcome  ;  some  of  whom  may 
make  a  place  beside  the  two  for  this  collection  of 
the  author's  verses  on  sacred  themes,  as  a  not  unfit 
ting  companion. 

BEVERLY,  MASS.,  October,  1892. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
AT   THE   BEAUTIFUL   GATE 1 

THE    HEAVENWARD   CALL 3 

SHOW  ME  THY  WAY 4 

THY  KINGDOM  COME 5 

GOD  IN  CHRIST 6 

THE  IMMORTAL  NOW 7 

FORETASTE 9 

INDWELLING 10 

THE  INMOST  ONE   .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .11 

L-ALTVE  IN  THEE 12 

MY  ANGEL-DRESS 14 

"AS  STRANGERS  AND  PILGRIMS"      ....        15 
HAND  IN  HAND  WITH  ANGELS      .....    16 

U   GOD'S  BEST  GIFT 19 

IN  THE  AIR 20 

A  THANKSGIVING 21 

THE  IMMORTAL  VOYAGER 23 

CLIMBING  TO  REST 25 

PRAYER  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN 26 

SONG-WEFTS 27 

THE  STILL  HOUR 29 

WINTER  MDDNIGHT 31 

A  WHITE  WORLD 32 

HEART'S  PRAYER    ...  34 


x  CONTENTS 

• 

THY   WILL  BE   DONE    .......  35 

PRAYING   ALWAYS 36 

BURDENED  ....«•««• 

IN   SORROW 39 

OUR  PRAYERS 40 

HELPER   AND   FRIEND       .......  41 

IN   THE   DARK 

THEE   ONLY 43 

AT   THY   FEET 44 

SAVED 45 

PURIFIED 46 

"EVEN  AS  HE  is  PURE" 47 

"BE  YE  THEREFORE  PERFECT"        ....  48 

THE  KING  AT  THE  DOOR 50 

THE  SEEKER 51 

"HIMSELF  HE  CANNOT  SAVE" 52 

BESIDE  THE  CROSS 54 

NEARER  TO  CHRIST 55 

THE  LAMB  THAT  WAS  SLAIN      .....  56 

EASTER:  SUNSET  AND  SUNRISE 58 

CHRIST  IS  ARISEN       .        .        .        .        .        .        .  59 

AS  A  FLOWER 60 

RING,  HAPPY  BELLS! 61 

THE  NEW  SONG 62 

OUR  CHRIST 63 

HIS  BIRTHDAY 64 

WOMAN'S  CHRISTMAS 65 

WOMAN'S  EASTER 67 

THE  LILY  OF  THE  RESURRECTION     ....  68 

"YE  SHALL  LIVE  ALSO" 70 

THE  HEART  OF  GOD 71 

HIS  CHURCH   .........  75 

THE  BLESSED  COMPANY 76 


CONTENTS  xi 

"IN  REMEMBRANCE  OF  ME  " 78 

AT  THE  FEAST •        .  79 

OUR  DAILY  BREAD 79 

"MY  CUP  RUNNETH  OVER" 81 

HYMNS  OF  A  DAY: 

DAWN 82 

NOONTIDE '.        .        .        82 

NIGHTFALL 83 

SUNRISE  IN  THE  CITY         ......        84 

CHILDREN'S  JUNE  SONG 86 

WANDERERS'  HYMN 87 

A  CANTICLE  IN  WAR,  A.  D.  1863 88 

LIFE  IS  GROWTH         .......         91 

HIS  STAR  IN  THE  WEST         .        .        .        .        .        .92 

GLIMPSES    .........        94 

WHY  LIFE  IS  SWEET 96 

MORE  LIFE 97 

DRAWING  NEARER         .        .        .         .  .        .99 

ACROSS  THE  RIVER 102 

A  YEAR  IN  HEAVEN 104 

NEAR  SHORE 106 

LOVE'S  LATE  REMORSE 108 

FOR  LARGER  LIVES 110 

THE  PERFECT  WORD 112 

A  DOOR  OPENED         ...        ^        ...       113 
TRANSFIGURED 114 

ELIZABETH  . 115 

WITHDRAWAL  ...  .  117 


AT  THE   BEAUTIFUL  GATE. 

LORD,  open  the  door,  for  I  falter, 

I  faint  in  this  stifled  air  ; 
In  dust  and  straitness  I  lose  my  breath  ; 
This  life  of  self  is  a  living  death  : 
Let  me  in  to  Thy  pastures  broad  and  fair, 
To  the  sun  and  the  wind  from  Thy  mountains  free  ; 

Lord,  open  the  door  to  me  ! 

There  is  holier  life,  and  truer, 

Than  ever  my  heart  has  found  : 
There  is  nobler  work  than  is  wrought  within 
These  walls  so  charred  by  the  fires  of  sin, 
Where  I  toil  like  a  captive  blind  and  bound : 
An  open  door  to  a  freer  task 

In  Thy  nearer  smile,  I  ask. 

Yet  the  world  is  Thy  field,  Thy  garden  ; 

On  earth  art  Thou  still  at  home. 
When  Thou  bendest  hither  Thy  hallowing  eye, 
My  narrow  work-room  seems  vast  and  high, 
Its  dingy  ceiling  a  rainbow  dome. 
Stand  ever  thus  at  my  wide-swung  door, 
And  toil  will  be  toil  no  more ! 

Through  the  rosy  portals  of  morning, 
Now  the  tides  of  sunshine  flow  : 


2  AT  THE  BEAUTIFUL  GATE 

O'er  the  blossoming  earth  and  the  glistening  sea, 
The  praise  Thou  inspirest  rolls  back  to  Thee  ; 
Its  tones  through  the  infinite  arches  go ; 
Yet,  crippled  and  dumb,  behold  me  wait, 
Dear  Lord,  at  the  Beautiful  Gate ! 

I  wait  for  Thy  hand  of  healing  ; 

For  vigor  and  hope  in  Thee. 
Open  wide  the  door,  —  let  me  feel  the  sun ! 
Let  me  touch  thy  robes  !  —  I  shall  rise  and  run 
Through  Thy  happy  universe,  safe  and  free, 
Where  in  and  out  Thy  beloved  go, 

Nor  want  nor  wandering  know. 

Thyself  art  the  Door,  Most  Holy ! 

By  Thee  let  me  enter  in  ! 

I  press  toward  Thee  with  my  failing  strength : 
Unfold  Thy  love  in  its  breadth  and  length  ! 
True  life  from  Thine  let  my  spirit  win ! 
To  the  saints'  fair  City,  the  Father's  Throne, 
Thou,  Lord,  art  the  way  alone. 

From  the  deeps  of  unseen  glory 

Now  I  feel  the  flooding  light. 
O  rare  sweet  winds  from  Thy  hills  that  blow ! 
O  River  so  calm  in  its  crystal  flow ! 
O  Love  unfathomed  —  the  depth,  the  height ! 
What  joy  wilt  Thou  not  unto  me  impart, 

When  Thou  shalt  enlarge  my  heart ! 

To  be  made  with  Thee  one  spirit, 
Is  the  boon  that  I  lingering  ask : 


THE  HEAVENWARD  CALL  3. 

To  have  no  bar  'twixt  my  soul  and  Thine ; 
My  thoughts  to  echo  Thy  will  divine  ; 
Myself  Thy  servant,  for  any  task.  — 
Life  !  life !  I  may  enter,  through  Thee,  the  Door, 
Saved,  sheltered  forevermore ! 


THE   HEAVENWARD   CALL. 

WHAT  shall  I  do,  my  Lord,  my  God, 
To  make  my  life  worth  more  to  Thee  ? 

Within  my  heart,  through  earth  abroad, 
Deep  voices  stir  and  summon  me. 

Through  strange  confusions  of  the  time 
I  hear  Thy  beckoning  call  resound : 

There  is  a  pathway  more  sublime 

Than  yet  my  laggard  feet  have  found. 

My  coward  heart,  my  flagging  feet, 
They  hold  me  in  bewildering  gloom : 

Come  Thou  my  stumbling  steps  to  meet, 
And  lift  me  unto  larger  room  ! 


The  dearest  voice  may  lead  astray  : 

Speak  Thou !     Thy  word  my  guide  shall  be, 

Oh,  not  from  life  and  men  away, 

But  through  them,  with  them,  up  to  Thee. 

It  is  not  much  these  hands  can  do : 
Keep  Thou  my  spirit  close  to  Thine, 

Till  every  thought  Thy  love  throbs  through, 
And  all  my  words  breathe  truth  divine ! 


SHOW  ME  THY  WAY 

With  souls  that  seek  Thy  pure  abode, 
Let  my  unfaltering  soul  aspire  ! 

Make  me  a  radiance  on  the  road ; 
A  bearer  of  Thy  sacred  fire ! 


SHOW   ME  THY  WAY. 

DARK  the  night,  the  snow  is  falling ; 
Through  the  storm  are  voices  calling ; 
Guides  mistaken  and  misleading, 
Far  from  home  and  help  receding : 
Vain  is  all  those  voices  say  : 
Show  me  Thy  way ! 

Blind  am  I  as  those  who  guide  me ; 
Let  me  feel  Thee  close  beside  me  ! 
Come  as  light  into  my  being  ! 
Unto  me  be  eyes,  All-Seeing! 

Hear  my  heart's  one  wish,  I  pray : 
Show  me  Thy  way  ! 

Son  of  Man  and  Lord  Immortal, 
Opener  of  the  heavenly  portal, 
In  Thee  all  my  hope  is  hidden ; 
Never  yet  was  soul  forbidden 

Near  Thee,  close  to  Thee,  to  stay : 
Show  me  Thy  way  ! 

Thou  art  Truth's  eternal  morning ; 
Led  by  Thee,  all  evil  scorning, 
Through  the  paths  of  pure  salvation, 


THY  KINGDOM  COME 

I  shall  find  Thy  habitation, 

Whence  I  never  more  shall  stray  : 
Show  me  Thy  way  ! 

Thou  must  lead  me,  and  none  other ; 
Truest  Lover,  Friend,  and  Brother, 
Thou  art  my  soul's  shelter,  whether 
Stars  gleam  out,  or  tempests  gather: 
In  Thy  presence  night  is  day : 
Show  me  Thy  way! 


THY   KINGDOM   COME. 

SOMETIMES  a  vision  comes  to  me 
Of  what  Thy  world  was  meant  to  be ; 
Thy  beauty  all  things  shining  through, 
Thy  love  in  all  the  works  we  do. 

I  shade  my  spirit's  dazzled  sight 
Before  the  splendor  of  that  light : 
Earth  crowned  with  heaven's  pure  diadem, 
The  Bride,  the  new  Jerusalem ! 

For  this  alone  didst  Thou  descend, 
O  Son  of  God,  man's  glorious  Friend, 
From  Thy  dear  Father's  throne  of  bliss ;  — 
That  human  life  might  be  as  His. 

Thy  Kingdom  come,  our  souls  within ! 
Where  Thou  art,  is  no  room  for  sin : 
Oh,  show  us  what  our  lives  may  be, 
Led  home  to  Him,  by  following  Thee ! 


GOD  IN  CHRIST 


GOD  IN   CHRIST. 

O  THOU  far-off,  eternal  God, 

Within  all  life,  beyond  all  thought, 

We  seek  Thee  through  Thy  worlds  abroad  ; 
Thy  footsteps  trace,  but  find  Thee  not ; 

All  forms  of  being  Thou  dost  fill, 

A  strange,  retreating  Mystery  still. 

Far-off  Thou  art,  and  yet  most  near ! 

Thou  comest  in  Christ  our  souls  to  meet, 
A  Presence  close  and  warm  and  dear; 

A  Sympathy,  a  Friendship  sweet ; 
One  with  ourselves  in  Him  Thou  art ;  — 
Our  Father,  with  a  Brother's  heart. 

The  Source  of  all  the  tenderness 

Whereof  our  lonely  souls  have  dreamed,  - 
A  boundless  Power  and  Will  to  bless,  — 

Thy  Life  into  our  lives  hath  streamed. 
We  grope  not  through  the  void  alone  ; 
Thou  callest  us,  claimest  us  for  Thine  own. 

Into  Thy  hand  Thou  takest  ours  ; 

We  lean  our  weary  hearts  on  Thine  ; 
Our  inmost  thoughts,  our  utmost  powers 

Unfold  within  Thy  Light  Divine : 
And  in  the  Spirit  of  Thy  Son 
Our  little  lives  with  Thine  are  one. 

Thy  mysteries  deepen  and  increase ; 
Beyond  our  path  we  cannot  see ; 


THE  IMMORTAL  NOW 

Christ  is  our  Refuge  and  our  Peace ; 

Through  Him  we  are  at  home  with  Thee ; 
In  Him  we  know  Thee  as  Thou  art :  — 
Thou  lovest  us  with  a  human  Heart ! 


THE  IMMORTAL  NOW. 

SIT  not  blindfold,  Soul,  and  sigh 
For  the  immortal  By-and-by ! 
Dreamer,  seek  not  heaven  afar 
On  the  shores  of  some  strange  star ! 
This  a  star  is  —  this,  thine  Earth  ! 
Here  the  germ  awakes  to  birth 
Of  God's  sacred  life  in  thee  — 
Heir  of  immortality ! 

Inmost  heaven  its  radiance  pours 
Round  thy  windows,  at  thy  doors, 
Asking  but  to  be  let  in  ; 
Waiting  to  flood  out  thy  sin ; 
Offering  thee  unfailing  health, 
Love's  refreshment,  boundless  wealth 
Voices  at  thy  life's  gate  say, 
'  Be  immortal,  Soul,  to-day  ! ''' 

Thou  canst  shut  the  splendor  out ; 
Darken  every  room  with  doubt ; 
From  the  entering  angels  hide 
Under  tinseled  wefts  of  pride  ; 
While  the  pure  in  heart  behold 
God  in  every  flower  unfold ; 


8  THE  IMMORTAL  NOW 

While  the  poor  His  kingdom  share, 
Reigning  with  Him  everywhere. 

Oh,  let  Christ  and  sunshine  in  ! 
Let  His  love  its  sweet  way  win  ! 
Nothing  human  is  too  mean 
To  receive  the  King  unseen : 
Not  a  pleasure  or  a  care 
But  celestial  robes  may  wear  ; 
Impulse,  thought,  and  action  may 
Live  immortally  to-day. 

Balance  not  in  scales  of  time 
Deathless  destinies  sublime ! 
What  vague  future  can  weigh  down 
This  great  Now  that  is  thine  own  ? 
Love  were  miserly  that  gave 
Only  gifts  beyond  the  grave. 
Heaven  makes  every  earth-plant  thrive  ; 
All  things  are  in  God  alive. 

Oh,  the  stifled  bliss  and  mirth 
At  the  weary  heart  of  Earth, 
We,  her  children,  might  awake ! 
Songs  would  from  her  bosom  break ; 
Toil,  unfettered  from  its  curse, 
God's  glad  purpose  would  rehearse, 
If  with  Him  we  understood 
Of  creation  —  "  It  is  good." 

Soul,  perceive  thy  perfect  hour  ! 
Let  thy  life  burst  into  flower ! 


FORETASTE 

Heaven  is  opening  to  bestow 

More  than  thou  canst  think  or  know. 

Now  to  thy  true  height  arise  j 

Enter  now  thy  Paradise  ! 

In  to-day,  to-morrow  see, 

Now  is  immortality  1 


FORETASTE. 

How  do  I  know  that  after  this 

Another  life  there  is  ? 
Another  life  ?     There  is  but  one  ! 

In  mystery  begun, 

Continued  in  a  miracle,  God's  breath, 
The  living  soul,  spells  not  the  name  of  death. 

How  know  I  that  I  am  alive  ? 

So  only  as  I  thrive 
On  truth,  whose  sweetness  keeps  the  soul 

Vigorous  and  pure  and  whole  : 
Heaven's  health  within  is  immortality  ; 
The  life  that  is,  and  evermore  shall  be. 

To  grasp  the  Hereafter  is  not  mine ; 

And  yet  a  Voice  divine 
Hath,  page  by  page,  interpreted 

Time's  book,  while  I  have  read : 
And,  as  my  heart  in  wisdom  shall  unfold, 
Secrets  of  unseen  heavens  shall  I  be  told. 

To  Thy  Beyond  no  fear  I  give  ; 
Because  Thou  livest,  I  live, 


10  INDWELLING 

Unsleeping  Friend  !     Why  should  I  wake, 

Troublesome  thought  to  take 
For  any  strange  to-morrow  ?     In  Thy  hand, 
Days  and  eternities  like  flowers  expand. 

Odors  from  blossoming  worlds  unknown 

Across  my  path  are  blown  ; 
Thy  robes  trail  hither  myrrh  and  spice 

From  farthest  paradise ; 

I  walk  through  Thy  fair  universe  with  Thee, 
And  sun  me  in  Thine  immortality. 


INDWELLING. 

O  SPIRIT,  whose  name  is  the  Saviour, 
Come  enter  this  spirit  of  mine; 

And  make  it  forever  Thy  dwelling, 
A  home  wherein  all  things  are  Thine ! 

O  Son  of  the  Father  Eternal, 

Once  with  us,  a  Friend  and  a  Guest, 

Abide  in  Thine  own  human  mansion, 
Its  Joy  and  its  Hope  and  its  Rest ! 

Leave  in  me  no  darkness  unlighted, 
Unwarmed  by  Thy  truth's  holy  fire ; 

No  thought  which  Thou  canst  not  inhabit, 
No  purpose  Thou  dost  not  inspire  ! 

Shut  in  unto  silence,  my  midnight 
Is  dawn,  if  Thy  Presence  I  see  ; 


THE  INMOST  ONE  11 

When  I  open  my  doors  to  Thy  coming, 
Lo  !  all  things  are  radiant  with  Thee. 

Oh,  what  is  so  sweet  as  to  love  Thee, 
And  live  with  Thee  always  in  sight  ? 

Lord,  enter  this  house  of  my  being, 
And  fill  every  room  with  Thy  light ! 


THE  INMOST  ONE. 

How  near  to  me,  my  God,  thou  art ! 
Felt  in  the  throbbing  of  my  heart, 
Nearer  than  my  own  thoughts  to  me : 
Nothing  is  real,  without  Thee  ! 

Thy  perfect  light  makes  morning  fair, 
Thy  breath  is  freshness  in  the  air ; 
The  glory  Thou  of  star  and  sun, 
Thou  Soul  of  souls,  Thou  Inmost  One ! 

With  feverish  restlessness  and  pain 
We  strive  to  shut  Thee  out,  in  vain  ; 
To  darkened  heart  and  rebel  will 
Thou  art  the  one  clear  Dayspring  still. 

Eyes  art  Thou  unto  us,  the  blind  : 
We  turn  to  Thee,  ourselves  to  find ; 
We  set  ajar  no  door  of  prayer 
But  Thou  art  waiting  entrance  there. 

Within  me,  —  nearer  far  than  near,  — 
Through  every  thought  Thy  voice  I  hear 


12  ALIVE  IN   THEE 

My  whole  life  welcomes  Thy  control ; 
Immanuel !   God  within  my  soul ! 

Thou  fillest  my  being's  hidden  springs, 
Thou  givest  my  wishes  heavenward  wings ; 
I  live  Thy  life,  I  breathe  Thy  breath  ; 
Nor  part  nor  lot  have  I  with  death. 


ALIVE   IN   THEE. 

INTO  the  heaven  of  Thy  heart,  O  God, 

I  lift  up  my  life,  like  a  flower ; 
Thy  light  is  deep,  and  Thy  love  is  broad, 

And  I  am  not  the  child  of  an  hour. 

As  a  little  blossom  is  fed  from  the  whole 

Vast  depth  of  unfathomed  air, 
Through  every  fibre  of  thought  my  soul 

Reaches  forth,  in  Thyself  to  share. 

I  dare  to  say  unto  Thee,  my  God, 
Who  hast  made  me  to  climb  so  high, 

That  I  shall  not  crumble  away  with  the  clod : 
I  am  Thine,  and  I  cannot  die ! 

The  throb  of  Thy  infinite  life  I  feel 

In  every  beat  of  my  heart ; 
Upon  me  hast  Thou  set  eternity's  seal ; 

Forever  alive,  as  Thou  art. 

I  know  not  Thy  mystery,  O  my  God, 
Nor  yet  what  my  own  life  means, 


ALIVE  IN  THEE  13 

That  feels  after  Thee,  through  the  mould  and  the 

sod, 
And  the  darkness  that  intervenes. 

But  I  know  that  I  live,  since  I  hate  the  wrong, 

The  glory  of  truth  can  see  ; 
Can  cling  to  the  right  with  a  purpose  strong, 

Can  love  and  can  will  with  Thee. 

And  I  feel  Thee  through  other  lives,  my  God, 

That  into  Thyself  have  grown, 
And  are  filled  with  the  sweetness  of  Thine  abode, 

With  the  light  that  is  all  Thine  own. 

Because  I  have  known  the  human  heart 

And  its  heavenly  tenderness, 
I  am  sure  that  Thou  with  Thy  children  art : 

They  bless  me  as  Thou  dost  bless. 

Shall  I  doubt  Thy  breath  which  I  breathe,  my  God  ? 

Shall  I  reason  myself  into  dust  ? 
Thy  Word  flows  fresh  through  the  earth  abroad ; 

My  soul  to  Thy  Soul  I  trust ! 

Thou  hast  entered  into  humanity, 
And  hast  made  it,  like  Thee,  divine ; 

And  the  grave  and  corruption  it  shall  not  see, 
This  Holy  One  that  is  Thine ! 


14  M Y  ANGEL-DRESS 


MY  ANGEL-DRESS. 

HEAVENLY  Father,  I  would  wear 
Angel-garments,  white  and  fair  : 
Angel-vesture  undefiled 
Wilt  Thou  give  unto  Thy  child  ? 

Not  a  robe  of  many  hues, 
Such  as  earthly  fathers  choose  ; 
Discord  weaves  the  gaudy  vest : 
Not  in  such  let  me  be  drest. 

Take  the  raiment  soiled  away 
That  I  wear  with  shame  to-day : 
Give  my  angel-robe  to  me, 
White  with  heavenly  purity ! 

Take  away  my  cloak  of  pride, 
And  the  worthless  rags  't  would  hide  : 
Clothe  me  in  my  angel-dress, 
Beautiful  with  holiness ! 

Perfume  every  fold  with  love, 
Hinting  heaven  where'er  I  move ; 
As  an  Indian  vessel's  sails 
Whisper  of  her  costly  bales. 

Let  me  wear  my  white  robes  here, 
Even  on  earth,  my  Father  dear, 
Holding  fast  Thy  hand,  and  so 
Through  the  world  unspotted  go. 


"AS  STEANGEES  AND  PILGEIMS"      15 

Let  me  now  my  white  robes  wear : 
Then  I  need  no  more  prepare, 
All  apparelled  for  my  home 
Whensoe'er  Thou  callest,  "  Come  ! ' 

Thus  apparelled,  I  shall  be 
As  a  signal  set  for  Thee, 
That  the  wretched  and  the  weak 
May  the  same  fair  garments  seek. 

"  Buy  of  Me  !  "  I  hear  Thee  say  ; 
I  have  naught  wherewith  to  pay, 
But  I  give  myself  to  Thee  ; 
Clothed,  adopted  I  shall  be. 


"AS   STRANGERS   AND  PILGRIMS. 

As  strangers,  glad  for  this  good  inn, 
Where  nobler  wayfarers  have  been  ; 
Yet  asking  but  a  little  rest : 
Earth  may  not  keep  her  spirit-guest. 

As  those  whom  no  entangling  bond 
Must  draw  from  life  and  love  beyond  : 
Strangers  to  all  that  lures  astray 
From  one  plain  path,  the  homeward  way. 

How  must  the  pilgrim's  load  be  borne  ? 
With  staggering  limbs,  and  look  forlorn  ? 
His  Guide  chose  all  that  load  within : 
There 's  need  of  everything,  but  sin. 


16         HAND  IN  HAND  WITH  ANGELS 

So,  trusting  Him  whose  love  he  knows, 
Singing  along  the  road  he  goes  ; 
And  nightly  of  his  burden  makes 
A  pillow  till  the  morning  breaks. 

How  thinks  the  pilgrim  of  his  way  ? 
As  wanderers  homesick  and  astray  ? 
The  starlight  and  the  dew  he  sees  ;         . 
He  feels  the  blessing  of  the  breeze ; 

The  valley-shades,  how  cool  and  still ! 
What  splendor  from  the  beetling  hill ! 
He  longs  to  go  ;  he  loves  to  stay  ; 
For  God  is  both  his  Home  and  Way. 

Strangers  to  sin  !  beloved  of  God  ! 
Ye  track  with  heaven-light  earth's  mean  sod ; 
For,  pilgrims  dear,  HE  walks  with  you, 
A  Guide,  —  but  once  a  Pilgrim  too. 


HAND  IN  HAND  WITH  ANGELS. 

HAND  in  hand  with  angels, 

Through  the  world  we  go ; 
Brighter  eyes  are  on  us 

Than  we  blind  ones  know ; 
Tenderer  voices  cheer  us 

Than  we  deaf  will  own  ; 
Never,  walking  heavenward, 

Can  we  walk  alone. 


HAND  IN  HAND  WITH  ANGELS          17 

Hand  in  hand  with  angels, 

In  the  busy  street, 
By  the  winter  hearth-fires,  — 

Everywhere,  —  we  meet, 
Though  unfledged  and  songless, 

Birds  of  Paradise  ; 
Heaven  looks  at  us  daily 

Out  of  human  eyes. 

Hand  in  hand  with  angels, 

Oft  in  menial  guise  ; 
By  the  same  strait  pathway 

Prince  and  beggar  rise. 
If  we  drop  the  fingers 

Toil-embrowned  and  worn, 
Then  one  link  with  heaven 

From  our  life  is  torn. 

Hand  in  hand  with  angels ; 

Some  are  fallen,  —  alas ! 
Soiled  wings  trail  pollution 

Over  all  they  pass. 
Lift  them  into  sunshine, 

Bid  them  seek  the  sky  ! 
Weaker  is  your  soaring, 

When  they  cease  to  fly. 

Hand  in  hand  with  angels ; 

Some  are  out  of  sight, 
Leading  us,  unknowing, 

Into  paths  of  light. 
Some  dear  hands  are  loosened 

From  our  earthly  clasp, 


HAND  IN  HAND  WITH  ANGELS 

Soul  in  soul  to  hold  us 
With  a  firmer  grasp. 

Hand  in  hand  with  angels,  — 

.  'T  is  a  twisted  chain, 
Winding  heavenward,  earthward, 

Linking  joy  and  pain. 
There  's  a  mournful  jarring, 

There  's  a  clank  of  doubt, 
If  a  heart  grows  heavy, 

Or  a  hand  's  left  out. 

Hand  in  hand  with  angels 

Walking  every  day,  — 
How  the  chain  may  lengthen, 

None  of  us  can  say. 
But  we  know  it  reaches 

From  earth's  lowliest  one, 
To  the  shining  seraph, 

Throned  beyond  the  sun. 

Hand  in  hand  with  angels ; 

Blessed  so  to  be ! 
Helped  are  all  the  helpers ; 

Giving  light,  they  see. 
He  who  aids  another 

Strengthens  more  than  one  ; 
Sinking  earth  he  grapples 

To  the  Great  White  Throne. 


GOD'S  BEST  GIFT  19 


GOD'S  BEST  GIFT. 

WHAT  is  the  best  a  friend  can  be 

To  any  soul,  to  you  or  me  ? 

Not  only  shelter,  comfort,  rest, 

Inmost  refreshment  unexpressed ; 

Not  only  a  beloved  guide 

To  thread  life's  labyrinth  at  our  side, 

Or  with  love's  torch  lead  on  before  ;  — 

Though  these  be  much,  there  yet  is  more. 

The  best  friend  is  an  atmosphere 
Warm  with  all  inspirations  dear, 
Wherein  we  breathe  the  large,  free  breath 
Of  life  that  has  no  taint  of  death. 
Our  friend  is  an  unconscious  part 
Of  every  true  beat  of  our  heart ; 
A  strength,  a  growth,  whence  we  derive 
God's  health,  that  keeps  the  world  alive. 

The  best  friend  is  horizon,  too, 

Lifting  unseen  things  into  view, 

And  widening  every  petty  claim 

Till  lost  in  some  sublimer  aim  ; 

Blending  all  barriers  in  the  great 

Infinities  that  round  us  wait. 

Friendship  is  an  eternity 

Where  soul  with  soul  walks,  heavenly  free. 

Can  friend  lose  friend  ?     Believe  it  not ! 
The  tissue  whereof  life  is  wrought, 


20  IN  THE  AIR 

Weaving  the  separate  into  one, 
Nor  end  hath,  nor  beginning  ;  spun 
From  subtle  threads  of  destiny, 
Finer  than  thought  of  man  can  see. 
God  takes  not  back  his  gifts  divine  ; 
While  thy  soul  lives,  thy  friend  is  thine. 

If  but  one  friend  has  crossed  thy  way, 
Once  only,  in  thy  mortal  day  ; 
If  only  once  life's  best  surprise 
Has  opened  on  thy  human  eyes,  — 
Ingrate  thou  wert,  indeed,  if  thou 
Didst  not  in  that  rare  presence  bow, 
And  on  earth's  holy  ground,  unshod, 
Speak  softlier  the  dear  name  of  God. 


IN  THE  AIR. 

THE  scent  of  a  blossom  from  Eden  ! 

The  flower  was  not  given  to  me, 
But  it  freshened  my  spirit  forever, 

As  it  passed,  on  its  way  to  thee ! 

In  my  soul  is  a  lingering  music : 
The  song  was  not  meant  for  me, 

But  I  listen,  and  listen,  and  wonder 
To  whom  it  can  lovelier  be. 

The  sounds  and  the  scents  that  float  by  us 
They  cannot  tell  whither  they  go  ; 

Yet,  however  it  fails  of  its  errand, 

Love  makes  the  world  sweeter,  I  know. 


A  THANKSGIVING  21 

I  know  that  love  never  is  wasted, 

Nor  truth,  nor  the  breath  of  a  prayer ; 

And  the  thought  that  goes  forth  as  a  blessing 
Must  live,  as  a  joy  in  the  air. 


The  best  of  all  God's  blessings 
Are  caught  upon  the  wing, 

And  then  set  free  into  the  heaven 
Of  other  hearts,  to  sing. 

Our  message  brought  no  answer,  — 
Our  dream  did  not  come  true ; 

But  we  have  freshened  weary  lives 
In  ways  we  never  knew. 


A  THANKSGIVING. 

FOR  the  wealth  of  pathless  forests, 

Whereon  no  axe  may  fall ; 
For  the  winds  that  haunt  the  branches  ; 

The  young  bird's  timid  call ; 
For  the  red  leaves  dropped  like  rubies 

Upon  the  dark  green  sod  ; 
For  the  waving  of  the  forests, 

I  thank  thee,  O  my  God ! 

For  the  sound  of  waters  gushing 
In  bubbling  beads  of  light ; 

For  the  fleets  of  snow-white  lilies 
Firm-anchored  out  of  sight ; 

For  the  reeds  among  the  eddies ; 
The  crystal  on  the  clod; 


22  A  THANKSGIVING 

For  the  flowing  of  the  rivers, 
I  thank  Thee,  O  my  God ! 

For  the  rosebud's  break  of  beauty 

Along  the  toiler's  way  ; 
For  the  violet's  eye  that  opens 

To  bless  the  new-born  day  ; 
For  the  bare  twigs  that  in  summer 

Bloom  like  the  prophet's  rod ; 
For  the  blossoming  of  flowers, 

I  thank  Thee,  O  my  God ! 

For  the  lifting  up  of  mountains 

In  brightness  and  in  dread ; 
For  the  peaks  where  snow  and  sunshine 

Alone  have  dared  to  tread  ; 
For  the  dark  of  silent  gorges, 

Whence  mighty  cedars  nod ; 
For  the  majesty  of  mountains, 

I  thank  Thee,  O  my  God  ! 

For  the  splendor  of  the  sunsets 

Vast  mirrored  on  the  sea  ; 
For  the  gold-fringed  clouds,  that  curtain 

Heaven's  inner  mystery  ; 
For  the  molten  bars  of  twilight, 

Where  thought  leans,  glad,  yet  awed; 
For  the  glory  of  the  sunsets, 

I  thank  thee,  O  my  God ! 

For  the  earth,  and  all  its  beauty ; 
The  sky,  and  all  its  light ; 


THE  IMMORTAL  VOYAGER  23 

For  the  dim  and  soothing  shadows 

That  rest  the  dazzled  sight ; 
For  unfading  fields  and  prairies, 

Where  sense  in  vain  has  trod ;  ' 
For  the  world's  exhaustless  beauty, 

I  thank  Thee,  O  my  God  ! 

For  an  eye  of  inward  seeing ; 

A  soul  to  know  and  love  ; 
For  these  common  aspirations, 

That  our  high  heirship  prove ; 
For  the  hearts  that  bless  each  other 

Beneath  Thy  smile,  Thy  rod ; 
For  the  amaranth  saved  from  Eden, 

I  thank  Thee,  O  my  God ! 

For  the  hidden  scroll,  o'erwritten 

With  one  dear  Name  adored ; 
For  the  Heavenly  in  the  human ; 

The  Spirit  in  the  Word ; 
For  the  tokens  of  Thy  presence 

Within,  above,  abroad ; 
For  Thine  own  great  gift  of  Being, 

I  thank  Thee,  O  my  God ! 


THE  IMMORTAL  VOYAGER. 

I  THANK  Thee,  Lord,  for  precious  things 
Which  Thou  into  my  life  hast  brought ; 

More  gratefully  my  spirit  sings 
Its  thanks  for  all  I  yet  have  not. 


24  THE  IMMORTAL  VOYAGER 

* 

How  fair  Thy  world  to  me  has  been  ! 

How  dear  the  friends  who  breathe  its  air ! 
But  who  can  guess  what  waits  within 

Thine  opening  realms,  Thy  worlds  more  fair  ? 

That  which  I  had  has  slipped  away, 

Lost  in  the  abysses  of  the  Past ; 
By  that  I  lack  am  I  to-day 

Heir  of  Thine  undawned  aeons  vast. 

The  best  things  joy  to  me  has  brought 
Have  been  its  sigh  of  yearning  pain  ; 

Its  dreams  of  bliss  unguaged  by  thought ; 
Its  dear  despairs,  which  yet  remain. 

If  Thou  Thyself  at  once  couldst  give, 
Then  wert  Thou  not  the  God  Thou  art : 

To  explore  Thy  .secret  is  to  live, 
Creation's  ever-deepening  Heart ! 

To  some  Thou  givest  at  ease  to  lie, 

Content  in  anchored  happiness : 
Thy  breath  my  full  sail  swelling,  I 

Across  thy  broadening  seas  would  press  ! 

Dear  voyagers,  though  each  nearing  oar 

Around,  is  music  to  my  ear, 
Sweeter  to  hear,  far  on  before, 

Some  swifter  boatman  call,  "  Good  cheer ! " 

At  friendly  shores,  at  peaceful  isles, 
I  touch,  but  may  not  long  delay  ; 


CLIMBING  TO  REST  25 

Where  Thy  flushed  East  with  mystery  smiles, 
I  steer  into  the  unrisen  day. 

For  veils  of  hope  before  Thee  drawn, 
For  mists  that  hint  the  immortal  coast 

Hid  in  Thy  farthest,  faintest  dawn,  — 
My  God,  for  these  I  thank  Thee  most. 

Joy,  joy  !  to  see,  from  every  shore 

Whereon  my  step  makes  pressure  fond, 

Thy  sunrise  reddening  still  before  ! 

More  light,  more  love,  more  life  beyond ! 


CLIMBING  TO  REST. 


STILL  must  I  climb,  if  I  would  rest : 
The  bird  soars  upward  to  his  nest ; 
The  young  leaf  on  the  treetop  high 
Cradles  itself  within  the  sky. 

The  streams,  that  seem  to  hasten  down, 
Return  in  clouds,  the  hills  to  crown  ; 
The  plant  arises  from  her  root, 
To  rock  aloft  her  flower  and  fruit. 

I  cannot  in  the  valley  stay : 
The  great  horizons  stretch  away ! 
The  very  cliffs  that  wall  me  round 
Are  ladders  unto  higher  ground. 

To  work  —  to  rest  —  for  each  a  time  ; 
I  toil,  but  I  must  also  climb  : 


26  PEAYEE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN 

What  soul  was  ever  quite  at  ease 
Shut  in  by  earthly  boundaries  ? 

I  ana  not  glad  till  I  have  known 
Life  that  can  lift  me  from  my  own : 
A  loftier  level  must  be  won, 
A  mightier  strength  to  lean  upon. 

And  heaven  draws  near  as  I  ascend  ; 
The  breeze  invites,  the  stars  befriend  : 
All  things  are  beckoning  toward  the  Best : 
I  climb  to  thee,  my  God,  for  rest ! 


PRAYER  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

GIRD  me  with  the  strength  of  Thy  steadfast  hills, 

The  speed  of  Thy  streams  give  me ! 
In  the  spirit  that  calms,  with  the  life  that  thrills, 

I  would  stand  or  run  for  Thee. 
Let  me  be  Thy  voice,  or  Thy  silent  power, 

As  the  cataract,  or  the  peak,  — 
An  eternal  thought,  in  my  earthly  hour, 

Of  the  living  God  to  speak ! 

• 

Clothe  me  in  the  rose-tints  of  Thy  skies, 

Upon  morning  summits  laid  ! 
Robe  me  in  the  purple  and  gold  that  flies 

Through  thy  shuttles  of  light  and  shade  ! 
Let  me  rise  and  rejoice  in  Thy  smile  aright, 

As  mountains  and  forests  do  ! 
Let  me  welcome  Thy  twilight  and  Thy  night, 

And  wait  for  Thy  dawn  anew  ! 


' 


SONG-WEFTS  *  27 

Give  me  of  the  brook's  faith,  joyously  sung 

Under  clank  of  its  icy  chain  ! 
Give  me  of  the  patience  that  hides  among 

Thy  hilltops,  in  mist  and  rain  ! 
Lift  me  up  from   the   clod,   let  me  breathe  Thy 
breath ! 

Thy  beauty  and  strength  give  me ! 
Let  me  lose  both  the  name  and  the  meaning  of 
death, 

In  the  life  that  I  share  with  Thee ! 


SONG-WEFTS. 

THE  grace  of  the  bending  grasses, 

The  flush  of  the  dawn-lit  sky, 
The  scent  that  lingers  and  passes 

When  the  loitering  wind  goes  by, 
Are  gushes  and  hints  of  sweetness, 

From  the  unseen  deeps  afar,  — 
The  foam-edge  of  heaven's  completeness 

Swept  outward  through  flower  and  star. 

For  the  cloud,  and  the  leaf,  and  the  blossom, 

The  shadow,  the  flickering  beam, 
Are  waifs  on  the  sea-like  bosom 

Of  beauty  beyond  our  dream : 
Its  glow  to  our  earth  is  given ; 

It  freshens  this  lower  air : 
Oh,  the  fathomless  wells  of  heaven,  — 

The  springs  of  the  earth  rise  there  ! 


28  SONG-  WEFTS 

THE  curtain  of  the  dark 
Is  pierced  by  many  a  rent : 

Out  of  the  star-wells,  spark  on  spark 
Trickles  through  night's  torn  tent. 

Grief  is  a  tattered  tent 

Wherethrough  God's  light  doth  shine 
Who  glances  up,  at  every  rent 

Shall  catch  a  ray  divine. 


DESPAIR  not  thou  of  any  fallen  soul's  fate, 

Till  thou  hast  knelt  beside  it  in  the  mire,    - 
And  mingled  with  its  meanings  desolate 

The  heavenward  whisper  of  thy  heart's  desire  ; 
Till  thou  hast  felt  it  thrill  with  thine  own  faith 

In  Him  who  looks  not  on  us  as  we  are, 
But  wakes  the  immortal  in  us  by  His  breath, 

And  puts  remembrance  of  our  sins  afar. 

The  noblest  creature  of  a  mortal  birth 

Rose  to  its  beauteous  dignity  of  place 
Not  without  many  a  lingering  stain  of  earth, 

Wherein  all  souls  are  set,  a  little  space  ; 
And  thou  into  the  haunts  of  shame  and  crime 

Like  an  awakening  breeze  of  Heaven  mayest  go, 
Knowing  that  out  of  blackest  depths  of  slime 

May  spring  up  lilies  whiter  than  the  snow. 


FROM  the  reek  of  the  pond  the  lily 
Has  risen,  in  raiment  white, 

A  spirit  of  air  and  water, 
A  form  of  incarnate  light. 


THE  STILL  HOUR  29 

Yet,  except  for  the  rooted  stem 

That  steadies  her  diadem, 
Except  for  the  earth  she  is  nourished  by, 
Could  the  soul  of  the  lily  have  climbed  to  the  sky  ? 


WHEKE  does  the  snow  go, 

So  white  on  the  ground  ? 
Under  May's  azure 

No  flake  can  be  found. 
Look  into  the  lily 

Some  sweet  summer  hour ; 
There  blooms  the  snow 

In  the  heart  of  the  flower. 

Where  does  the  love  go, 

Frozen  to  grief  ? 
Along  the  heart's  fibres 

Its  cold  thrill  is  brief. 
The  snow-fall  of  sorrow 

Turns  not  to  dry  dust ; 
It  lives  in  white  blossoms 

Of  patience  and  trust. 


THE   STILL  HOUR. 

THE  quiet  of  a  shadow-haunted  pool, 

Where  light  breaks  through  in  glorious  tender 
ness  ; 

Where  the  tranced  pilgrim  in  the  shelter  cool 
Forgets  the  way's  distress,  — 


30  THE  STILL  HOUR 

Such  is  this  hour,  this  silent  hour  with  Thee ! 

The  trouble  of  the  restless  heart  is  still, 
And  every  swaying  wish  breathes  reverently 
The  whisper  of  Thy  will. 

Father,  our  thoughts  are  rushing  wildly  on, 

Tumultuous,  clouded  with  their  own  vain  strife  ; 
Darkened  by  cares  from  our  own  planting  grown  ; 
We  call  the  tumult  life. 

And  something  of  Thy  Presence  still  is  given : 

The  keen  light  flashing  from  the  seething  foam, 
Through   tangled   boughs   the  sudden  glimpse   of 

heaven, 
From  Thee,  Thee  only,  come. 

And  beautiful  it  is  to  catch  Thy  smile 

Amid  the  rush,  the  hurrying  flow  of  mind  ; 
To  feel  Thy  glance  upon  us  all  the  while, 
Most  Holy  and  most  Kind ! 

But  oh  !  this  hour  of  heavenly  quietness, 
When,  as  a  lake  that  opens  to  the  sky, 
The  soul,  serene  in  its  great  blessedness, 
Looks  up  to  meet  Thine  eye  ! 

Fountain  of  Life,  in  Thee  alone  is  Light ! 

Shine  through  our  being,  cleansing  us  of  sin, 
Till  we  grow  lucid  with  Thy  Presence  bright  — 
The  peace  of  God  within. 

Yet  nearer  to  our  souls  in  blessing  come ! 
O  Thou  Divine  One,  meet  us  a  Friend  ! 


WINTER  MIDNIGHT  31 

With  Thee  alone  is  every  heart  at  home : 
:  -,         Stay  with  us  to  the  end  ! 

By  the  stream's  windings  let  us  with  Thee  talk 
Of   this  strange   earth -life  Thou  so  well   hast 

known  ; 

In  Thy  fresh  footprints  let  us  heavenward  walk, 
No  more  to  grope  alone  ! 

If  in  our  thoughts,  by  Thee  made  calm  and  clear, 

The  brightening  image  of  Thy  face  we  see, 
What  hour  of  all  our  lives  can  be  so  dear 
As  this  still  hour  with  Thee ! 


WINTER   MIDNIGHT. 

SPEAK  to  us  out  of  midnight's  heart, 
Thou  who  forever  sleepless  art ! 
The  thoughts  of  Night  are  still  and  deep ; 
She  doth  Thy  holiest  secrets  keep. 

The  voices  of  the  Day  perplex ; 
Her  crossing  lights  mislead  and  vex  : 
We  trust  ourselves  to  find  Thy  way, 
Or,  proudly  free,  prefer  to  stray. 

The  Night  brings  dewfall,  still  and  sweet ; 

Soft  shadows  fold  us  to  Thy  feet ; 

Thy  whisper  in  the  dark  we  hear : 

"  Soul,  cling  to  Me !  none  else  is  near." 


32  A  WHITE  WORLD 

Speak  to  us  by  white  Winter's  breath, 
Thou  Life  behind  the  mask  of  death, 
That  makest  the  snowfall  eloquent 
As  summer's  stir  in  earth's  green  tent ! 

Close  unto  Winter's  quiet  breast, 
Summer,  a  sleeping  babe,  is  pressed : 
Till  waking-time  she  safe  will  hold 
His  bloom  and  freshness  manifold. 

O  Night  and  Winter !  cold  and  gloom ! 
O  marble  mystery  of  the  tomb ! 
God's  hieroglyphs  to  man  are  ye ; 
Sealed  visions  of  what  yet  shall  be. 

Better  is  blessedness  concealed 
From  sight,  than  joy  to  sense  revealed. 
Thanks  for  this  happy  mortal  breath ! 
Praise  for  the  life  wrapped  up  in  death ! 


A  WHITE   WORLD. 

I  NEVER  knew  the  world  in  white 

So  beautiful  could  be 
As  I  have  seen  it  here  to-day, 

Beside  the  wintry  sea ; 
A  new  earth,  bride  of  a  new  heaven, 

Has  been  revealed  to  me. 

The  sunrise  blended  wave  and  cloud 
In  one  broad  flood  of  gold, 


A  WHITE  WORLD  33 

But  touched  with  rose  the  world's  white  robes 

In  every  curve  and  fold  ; 
While  the  blue  air  did  over  all 

Its  breath  in  wonder  hold. 

Earth  was  a  statue  half  awake 

Beneath  her  Sculptor's  hand : 
How  the  Great  Master  bends  with  love 

Above  the  work  He  planned, 
Easy  it  is,  on  such  a  day, 

To  feel  and  understand. 

The  virgin-birth  of  Bethlehem, 

That  snow-pure  infancy, 
Warm  with  the  rose-bloom  of  the  skies,  — 

Life's  holiest  mystery,  — 
God's  utter  tenderness  to  man, 

Seems  written  on  all  I  see. 

For  earth,  this  vast  humanity, 

The  Lord's  own  body  is  ; 
To  this  our  life  He  entereth  in, 

Shares  all  its  destinies  ; 
And  we  shall  put  His  whiteness  on 

When  we  are  wholly  His. 

And  so  the  day  dies  like  a  dream, 

A  prophecy  divine : 
Dear  Master,  through  us  perfectly 

Shape  Thou  Thy  white  design, 
Nor  let  one  life  be  left  a  blot 

On  this  fair  world  of  Thine ! 


34  A  HEART'S  PRAYER 


A   HEART'S    PRAYER. 

A  PRAYER  is  in  my  thoughts  to-night 

I  hardly  dare  to  say : 
"  Lord,  put  my  wishes  all  to  flight, 

Nor  let  me  have  my  way  ! ' 

I  dare  not  say  it,  Lord,  for  fear 

My  heart  I  may  mistake ; 
So  many  earthly  things  are  dear, 

Perhaps,  for  earth's  own  sake. 

Nor  can  I  think  that  Thou  art  glad 

In  life  despoiled  of  bloom, 
Since  for  all  joy  the  worlds  have  had 

Thyself  hast  opened  room. 

And  yet  the  poison  plant,  so  fair, 

So  like  the  wholesome  grows, 
To  pluck  my  flower  I  will  not  dare, 

But  trust  His  hand  who  knows. 

And  this,  indeed,  is  life's  best  thing,  — 

To  take  sweet  gifts  from  Thee  ! 
If  Thou  some  dark,  sealed  bud  shouldst  bring, 

It  must  hold  light  for  me. 

In  sadness  I  withheld  my  prayer, 

Hid  under  trembling  fear  ; 
In  praise  it  blossoms,  unaware, 

Because  the  sun  is  near. 


THY  WILL  BE  DONE  35 

My  heart  Thou  wilt  not  crush  or  chill : 

"  Lead  into  Thine  my  way  ! 
Through  all  my  wishes  breathe  Thy  will ! ' 

This  prayer  to-night  I  say. 


THY   WILL  BE   DONE. 

OXLY  silently  resigned 

To  the  counsels  of  Thy  mind  ; 

Willing,  yet  rejoicing  not, 

That  Thy  purpose  shall  be  wrought, 

Is  this  truly  to  submit  ? 
Folding  placid  hands,  to  sit, 
While  innumerable  feet 
Thy  triumphant  coming  meet  ? 

Shall  we  say,  "  Thy  will  be  done  !  " 
And  on  our  own  errands  run  ? 
Vain  and  evil  the  design, 
We  pursue,  apart  from  Thine. 

Teach  us  how  to  live  this  prayer  ; 
Reverently  Thy  plans  to  share  ! 
More  than  echoes  of  Thy  voice, 
Make  us  partners  in  Thy  choice ! 

Lift  us  up  to  catch  from  Thee 
World-encircling  sympathy  : 
Ardor,  strength,  and  courage  give ; 
As  Thou  livest,  let  us  live ! 


36  PRAYING  ALWAYS 

Let  our  deeds  be  syllables 

Of  the  prayer  our  spirit  swells : 

In  us  Thy  desire  fulfill ! 

By  us  work  Thy  gracious  will ! 


PRAYING  ALWAYS. 

SOUL  of  our  souls,  only  by  Thee 

The  way  we  see 
Through  earth's  entangling  mystery ; 

We  nothing  know  ; 
But  prayer  unbars  heaven's  gate,  and  Thou  dost 

show 
The  one  sure  path  in  which  we  ought  to  go. 

And  this  is  prayer :  from  self  to  turn 

Thee-ward,  and  learn 
Our  life's  veiled  angels  to  discern. 

Filled  with  Thy  light 
We  hate  the  damning  evil,  love  the  right : 
Awake  with  Thee,  there  is  in  us  no  night. 

Were  ours  the  wish,  as  vain  as  strange, 

Thy  will  to  change, 
Or  Thy  least  purpose  disarrange,  — 

That  were  not  prayer, 
But  only  a  rebellious  heart  laid  bare, 
Insanely  choosing  curses  for  its  share. 

Thou  present  God !  to  Thee  we  speak ; 
Weary  and  weak, 


PRAYING  ALWAYS  37 

Thy  strength  Divine  we  struggling  seek  ! 

Thou  wilt  attend 

To  every  faintest  sigh  we  upward  send ; 
Thou   talkest  with   our   thoughts,   as   friend   with 
friend. 

The  battle  of  our  life  is  won, 

And  heaven  begun, 
When  we  can  say,  "  Thy  will  be  done  !  ' 

But,  Lord,  until 

These  restless  hearts  in  Thy  deep  love  are  still, 
We  pray  thee,  "  Teach  us  how  to  do  Thy  will ! ' 

We  cry  with  Ajax,  Give  us  light ! 

A  glimpse,  a  sight, 
Of  midnight  foes  that  we  must  fight ! 

They  hide  within, 

They  lurk  without,  the  subtle  hordes  of  sin  : 
By  mortal  might  shall  no  man  victory  win. 

The  prayer  of  faith  availeth  much  : 

Thou  hearest  such ; 
Thy  hand  we  in  the  darkness  touch. 

Oh,  not  apart 
Stayest   Thou   on   some    high   throne,    all  -  loving 

Heart ! 
Helper  in  times  of  need  we  know  Thou  art. 

Nor  nursing  each  our  own  distress, 

To  Thee  we  press  ; 
Prayer's  overflow  drowns  selfishness : 

Soul  within  soul, 


38  B  URDENED 

One  voice  to  Thee  our  linked  petitions  roll ; 

Healer  of  the  world's  hurt,  oh,  make  us  whole  ! 

t 

And  when  arise  serener  days, 

Whose  air  is  praise, 
The  song  of  thankfulness  we  raise 

On  high  shall  be, 

Not  that  to  some  vast  All  we  bend  the  knee, 
But  that  each  soul  has  one  sure  friend  in  Thee. 

Soul  of  our  souls,  with  boundless  cheer 

Forever  near, 
Our  being's  breath  and  atmosphere, 

The  world  seems  bleak 
Only  when  shelter  in  drear  self  we  seek  : 
The  joy  of  life  is,  man  to  Thee  may  speak ! 


BURDENED. 

No  burden  ever  had  I 

That  I  would  not  have  had ; 

Though  times  there  were  when  I  thought  never 
again 

To  look  up  to  heaven  and  be  glad. 
For,  groaning  and  struggling  on 

With  the  throngs  that  laden  go, 
I  saw,  by  the  pack  on  my  neighbor's  back, 

That  mine  was  the  lighter  woe. 

Unladen,  heedless,  unbent, 
I  never  had  known 


IN  SORROW  39 

That  the  fardel  borne  by  each  wight  forlorn 
Held  something  that  was  my  own ; 

Something  he  bore  for  me 
With  a  patient  ignorance, 

While  my  footprints  lay  as  a  blur  on  his  way, 
And  hindered  his  soul's  advance. 

Just  it  was  that  on  me 

Some  sorrow  should  fall ; 
No  trouble  alone  is  the  trouble  of  one, 

But  each  has  a  share  in  all. 
And  if  on  my  aching  neck 

Another  his  burden  laid, 
Strength  given  for  his  day  then  he  threw  away, 

Wherewith  I  was  stronger  made. 

I  know  that  we  are  not  here 

For  our  selfish  ease  ; 
The  kingliest  One  that  the  earth  has  known 

Lived  not  Himself  to  please. 
And  they  who  have  learned  of  Him 

How  a  burden  can  give  rest, 
And  joyfully  share  the  great  human  care,  — 

They  have  learned  life's  secret  best. 


IN  SORROW. 

THIS  my  comfort  is  in  sorrow : 
Every  grief  I  have  is  Thine : 

Heaviest  clouds  around  me  borrow 
Radiance  from  Thy  smile  divine. 


40  OUR  PRAYERS 

Lamb  of  God,  for  us,  the  sinning. 
From  the  world's  foundation  slain, 

To  Thy  heart  Thy  wanderers  winning,  — 
In  Thy  love  I  drown  my  pain. 

This  is  my  soul's  consolation  ; 

Grief  hath  made  me  all  Thine  own. 
Nevermore  shall  separation 

Of  my  will  from  Thine  be  known. 
Thou,  who  readest  my  inmost  story, 

With  Thy  courage  make  me  strong ! 
Thou,  whose  thorn-crown  is  Thy  glory, 

Let  my  sorrow  be  my  song ! 

Thou,  in  mortal  anguish  lonely, 

Gavest  Thy  life  our  hurts  to  heal : 
Count  not  this  my  suffering  only ! 

Woes  of  all  who  weep  I  feel. 
Take  our  human  consecration  ! 

Help  some  sad  soul  through  our  pain  ! 
Thou,  whose  wounds  are  our  salvation, 

Let  no  heart  have  bled  in  vain  ! 


OUR  PRAYERS. 

ART  Thou  not  weary  of  our  selfish  prayers  ? 

Forever  crying,  "  Help  me,  save  me,  Lord ! ' 
We  stay  fenced  in  by  petty  fears  and  cares, 

Nor  hear  the  song  outside,  nor  join  its  vast  accord, 

• 
And  yet  the  truest  praying  is  a  psalm : 

The  lips  that  open  in  pure  air  to  sing, 


HELPER  AND  FRIEND  41 

Make  entrance  to  the  heart  for  health  and  balm  ; 
And  so  life's  urn  is  filled  at  heaven's  all-brim 
ming  spring. 

Still  are  we  saying,  "  Teach  us  how  to  pray  "  ? 

0  teach  us  how  to  love  !  and  then  our  prayer 
Through  other  lives  will  find  its  upward  way> 

As  plants  together  seek  and  find  sweet  life  and 
air. 

Thy  large  bestowing  makes  us  ask  for  more  : 

Prayer  widens  with  the  world  wherethrough  love 

flows. 

Needy,  though  blest,  we  throng  before  Thy  door : 
Let  in  Thy  sunshine,  Lord,  on  all  that  lives  and 
grows ! 


HELPER  AND  FRIEND. 

HEAVENLY  Helper,  Friend  divine, 
Friend  of  all  men,  therefore  mine, 
Let  my  heart  as  Thy  heart  be  ! 
Breathe  Thy  living  breath  through  me ! 

\ 
Only  at  Thy  love's  pure  tide 

Human  thirst  is  satisfied  : 
He  who  fills  his  chalice  there, 
Fills,  with  thirstier  souls  to  share. 

Undefiled  One,  who  dost  win 
All  Thine  own  from  paths  of  sin, 


42  IN  THE  DARK 

Never  let  me  dread  to  go 
Where  is  guilt,  or  want,  or  woe ! 

If  another  lose  the  way, 
My  feet  also  go  astray : 
Sleepless  Watcher,  lead  us  back, 
Safe  into  the  homeward  track ! 

As  a  bird  unto  its  nest, 

Flies  the  tired  soul  to  Thy  breast. 

Let  not  one  an  alien  be ! 

Lord,  we  have  no  home  but  Thee ! 


IN  THE   DARK 

0  THOU  who  art  my  only  Light, 
Thee  do  I  follow  through  the  night ; 
Though  home  and  hope  are  out  of  sight, 
Firm  trust  in  Thee  my  spirit  hath  ; 

Thou  knowest  my  path  ! 

Although  I  cannot  see  Thy  face, 

1  feel  the  warmth  of  Thy  embrace 
Enfold  me  in  the  dangerous  place 
Where  sin  lies  waiting  to  betray ; 

Thou  knowest  my  way. 

O  Thou  who  seest  me  through  and  through, 
The  thoughts  I  think,  the  deeds  I  do,  — 
Thou  knowest  I  would  to  Thee  be  true ! 
Oh  draw  me  closer  to  Thy  side, 
My  Lord,  my  Guide ! 


THEE  ONLY  48 

Thou  knewest  me,  lovedst  me  in  the  past, 
Even  when  the  tempter  held  me  fast : 
Thy  wanderer  has  come  home  at  last, 
Never  again  from  Thee  to  stray  — 
From  Thee,  my  Way ! 

I  know  not  what  may  yet  unfold 
Beyond  the  morning's  gates  of  gold. 
This  is  my  heaven,  Thy  hand  to  hold, 
Thy  steps  to  follow  through  the  night,  — 
My  Life,  my  Light ! 


THEE  ONLY. 

IF  now  anew  the  search  were  to  be  made 

For  One  to  guide  me  onward  through  the  gloom 

Of  this  dim  world  wherein  I  walk  afraid  ;  — 

If,  like  a  child  left  in  an  empty  room, 

Homesick,  alone,  the  silence  like  a  tomb, 

I  went  forth  weeping,  and  should  hear  one  say, 

;'  Here,  child !  "  another,  "  Yonder  is  the  way  ! ' 

Another,    "  Come    with    me  !      Why    care    with 

whom  ?  "  — 

I  do  not  think  I  could  mistake  Thy  call 
Among  ten  thousand.     Toward  Thy  voice  I  grope, 
Brother,  Friend,  Lord  !  although  with  many  a  fall, 
And  sore  bewilderment,  and  baffled  hope. 
My  needy  soul,  if  ignorant  of  Thee, 
Would  prophesy  Thy  coming.     Thou  must  be  ! 


44  AT  THY  FEET 


AT  THY   FEET. 

LORD,  I  would  offer  Thee 
A  heart's  untarnished  gold, 

And  yet  how  can  it  be 

When  all  there  is  in  me 

Is  touched  with  blight  and  mould  ? 

% 

I  find  within  no  thought 

So  holy  that  it  may 
Unshamed  to  Thee  be  brought, 
Except  as  it  hath  caught 

From  Thee  a  hallowing  ray. 

Yet  all  I  am  is  Thine. 

Through  sins  and  flaws  and  stains 
I  feel  Thy  Presence  shine. 
Take  me,  and  make  divine 

All  that  uncleansed  remains ! 

Lord,  of  Thyself  not  much 
In  me  canst  Thou  behold, 

And  yet  Thou  savest  such ; 

The  magic  of  Thy  touch 

Transmutes  my  dross  to  gold. 

Contrition  Thou  dost  prize 

All  sacrifice  above. 
Dear  Lord,  I  dare  arise 
And  look  into  Thine  eyes, 

Because  I  know  Thy  love. 


SAVED  45 


SAVED. 

WHAT  is  the  soul  He  would  save  ?  — 
The  being,  with  all  its  powers  ; 
The  root,  with  its  leaves  and  flowers  : 

All  possible  good  we  can  crave 
In  this  God-given  life  of  ours. 

From  what  would  He  save  the  soul  ?  — 
From  contented  selfishness, 
And  from  bleak  unlovingness  ; 

From  the  lower  aim's  control, 

From  the  downward  passion's  stress. 

From  the  hell  of  an  evil  choice, 

When  our  eyes  on  His  Presence  close ; 
From  an  earth-clogged  ear  that  knows 

No  tone  of  His  tender  voice ; 

From  a  void  heart's  waste  of  woes. 

He  saveth  thee,  soul,  for  what  ?  — 
To  be  born  anew,  as  a  child, 

In  the  clear  and  open  thought ; 

In  the  love  that  envieth  not ; 
The  desires  all  undefiled. 

To  enrich  thee  with  every  gift 

That  His  fatherly  thought  can  plan : 

From  belittling  sins  to  lift 

Thee  up  to  the  angel  swift, 
And  the  stature  of  a  man ! 


46  PURIFIED 

He  saveth  thee,  soul,  to  be 

As  the  cleansing  salt  and  the  leaven  : 
His  mind  and  His  will  to  see  ; 
To  be  faithful  and  strong  and  free 

In  the  truth,  which  alone  is  heaven. 

Not  to  wait  for  the  Far-away, 

Wrapped  in  Eden-dreams,  —  but  now 
To  become  a  warmth,  a  ray, 
O  Christ,  of  Thy  deathless  day ! 
For  the  Life  of  our  life  art  Thou ! 


PURIFIED. 

How  cleanse  a  heart  that  is  defiled  ? 

God  may  forgive  the  sin, 
But  guilt  is  canker,  and  eats  in  ; 
Is  tempest,  bringing  shipwreck  wild : 
Yet  only  as  a  little  child 

Shall  man  His  kingdom  win. 

The  pearl  of  innocence,  once  lost, 

Can  never  be  replaced 
Upon  the  brow  its  whiteness  graced  : 
Yet  unto  swine  such  pearls  are  tossed  ; 
And  earth  is  paved  with  gems  of  cost, 

Scattered  in  spendthrift  waste. 

Alas !  we  cannot  purely  love, 

We  cannot  nobly  hate  ; 
Our  tears  of  blood  are  wept  too  late  : 


"EVEN  AS  HE  IS  PURE"  47 

With  halting  steps  we  upward  move, 
Fearing  lest  even  our  house  above 
Be  left  us  desolate. 

And  if  there  were  no  Voice  to  say, 
"  Go  thou,  and  sin  no  more  ! 

Love,  that  forgives,  can  all  restore ; 

Thou  art  made  whole  !  "  —  could  any  stay 

Heart-bare  beneath  truth's  probing  ray, 
Unscathed  by  terrors  sore  ? 

O  Christ !  the  memory  of  our  sin. 

Thy  healing  love  will  hide ; 
With  Thee  our  souls  in  peace  abide  ; 
In  Thee  heaven's  childhood  we  begin : 
Thy  kingdom  we  at  last  shall  win, 

Not  pure,  but  purified ! 


"EVEN  AS  HE  IS   PURE." 

THOU  who  seest  my  soul  within, 
Thou  who  knowest  my  unknown  sin, 
Through  Thy  holy  eyes  let  me 
Learn  what  sin  is  unto  Thee ! 

Oh,  my  Saviour  undefiled, 
Leave  me  not  by  self  beguiled, 
Blinded  by  my  heart's  deceit, 
For  Thy  friendship  all  unmeet ! 

If  there  be  in  me  a  thought 

That  Thy  dear  name  honoreth  not, 


48        "BE  YE  THEREFORE  PERFECT" 

Pierce  it  with  Thy  pitying  gaze 
Till  its  silence  turns  to  praise  ! 

Make  me,  Pure  One,  as  Thou  art, 
Pure  in  soul  and  mind  and  heart ; 
Never  satisfied  with  less 
Than  Thy  perfect  holiness  ! 

Bathing  in  Thy  love's  clear  stream, 
Let  my  soul  fulfill  her  dream, 
Beautified  with  every  grace 
Shining  on  me  from  Thy  face ! 

None  Thy  holy  heaven  may  win 
Stained  with  earthliness  and  sin : 
They  must  in  white  robes  appear, 
Who  Thy  whiteness  venture  near. 

Cleanse  us,  fill  us,  Soul  Divine, 
With  a  purity  like  Thine, 
That  within,  without  us,  we 
In  clear  vision,  God  may  see ! 


"BE  YE  THEREFORE  PERFECT." 

OH,  the  beauty  and  the  joy  of  living 
As  the  children  of  our  Father,  God ! 

All  we  have  and  hope  for  gladly  giving 
His  abounding  love  to  pour  abroad,  — 

Healing  waters  of  His  pure  salvation, 

Through  the  world  for  which  His  Son  has  died 


"BE  YE  THEREFORE  PERFECT"        49 

Sharing  in  our  Master's  consecration  ; 
Walking  at  our  Elder  Brother's  side. 

Wonderful  the  whiteness  of  Thy  glory ! 

Can  we  truly  that  perfection  share  ? 
Yes  ;  our  lives  are  pages  of  Thy  story  ; 

We  Thy  shape  and  superscription  bear : 
Tarnished  forms  —  torn  leaves  —  but  Thou  canst 
mend  them  ; 

Thou  Thine  own  completeness  canst  unfold 
From  our  imperfections,  and  wilt  end  them  ; 

Dross  consuming,  turning  dust  to  gold. 


Like  a  snowy  mountain-peak  above  us, 

u  Be  ye  perfect  !  "  dazzles  our  dim  eyes. 
Canst  Thou  look  from  Thy  pure  height  and  love  us  ? 

May  our  earth-clogged  feet  to  Thee  arise  ? 
We  before  the  vision  veil  our  faces, 

Yet  would  have  it  not  a  ray  less  bright. 
Shine  into  our  sin's  dark  hiding-places ! 

Fill  us,  flood  us  with  Thy  cleansing  light ! 

Perfect  even  as  Thou  art  perfect,  Father ! 

As  the  little  hilltops  catch  the  sun  ; 
As  the  small  shoots  springing  up  together 

Round  the  Tree  of  Life,  with  it  are  one. 
In  these  earthen  vessels  heavenly  treasure 

For  the  enrichment  of  Thy  poor  may  shine : 
Thou  canst  fill  us,  in  our  human  measure, 

With  Thy  being's  overflow  divine. 

Perfect  only  with  God's  own  perfection ! 
Drop  the  crumbling  model  shaped  of  clay ! 


50  THE  KING  AT  THE  DOOR 

Break  the  weak  ideal  of  man's  erection  ! 

Let  the  Real  burn  the  false  away ! 
This  is  life  —  to  pour  out  love  unstinted  ! 

Good  and  evil  sunlike  blesseth  He  : 
Through  your  finite  is  His  infinite  hinted : 

Children  of  your  Father  must  ye  be. 


THE   KING  AT  THE   DOOR. 

LIFT  up  the  everlasting  gates ! 
The  King  before  your  threshold  waits. 
Shall  He  who  life's  great  building  planned 
Unwelcomed  at  its  portal  stand  ? 

Is  there  a  corner  of  your  heart 
Where  you  retreat,  alone,  apart, 
A  sanctuary  all  your  own  ? 
Behold  !  He  made  it  for  His  throne. 

Is  there  a  darkness,  where,  shut  in, 
You  dare  not  face  your  secret  sin  ? 
Lo !  there  He  built  His  mercy  seat, 
There  He  your  humbled  soul  will  meet. 

Have  you  a  stately  banquet  hall 

Where  guests  from  many  a  clime  you  call  ? 

You  see  not  any  face  aright 

Until  He  enters  with  His  light. 

Ye  rich  ones,  why  will  ye  abide 
In  poverty  of  lonely  pride  ? 


THE  SEEKER  51 

Your  silver  and  your  gold  are  dim, 
Your  house  is  empty,  without  Him. 

Ye  lowly  ones,  if  ye  are  His, 

Ye  have  no  need  of  palaces, 

Since  that  rich  soul  can  lack  for  naught 

Who  lets  God  in  at  every  thought. 

Lift  up  the  everlasting  gates  ! 
The  King  at  His  own  threshold  waits.  — 
Enter,  O  Lord,  and  with  Thy  face 
Make  glorious  this  Thy  dwelling  place  ! 


THE   SEEKER. 

"  IF  selfishly  Thy  heaven  I  seek, 

I  seek  Thy  heaven  in  vain,"  — 
I  heard  my  heart  within  me  speak : 
I  hear  it  yet  again. 

For  heaven  is  all  unselfishness : 
The  souls  whose  home  is  there 

Have  never  dreamed  of  happiness 
They  do  not  long  to  share. 

If  selfishly  Thy  love  I  seek, 

I  seek  Thy  love  in  vain. 
Place  at  Thy  side  need  none  bespeak 

Who  shrink  back  from  Thy  pain. 

For  love  —  Thy  love  —  is  sacrifice  : 
Who  seeketh  still  his  own, 


52          "HIMSELF  HE  CANNOT  SAVE" 

Nor  for  his  brethren  lives  and  dies, 
Thyself  hath  never  known. 

Dear  Lord,  each  selfish  thought  we  think 

Puts  us  afar  from  Thee  : 
Into  our  own  dark  depths  we  sink, 

Where  heaven  can  never  be. 

Teach  us  to  know  Thee  as  Thou  art ;  — 
To  give  as  Thou  hast  given  ! 

Oh,  show  us  how  the  loving  heart 
May  make  this  world  a  heaven ! 


"HIMSELF  HE   CANNOT  SAVE." 

O  SCOFFER  !  He  who  from  the  cross 
Looked  down  thy  dark  abysm  of  loss, 
And  knew  His  pain  alone  could  win 
Such  souls  as  thine  from  gulfs  of  sin,  — 
His  death-groan  mournful  echo  gave : 
"  Myself  I  cannot  save." 

Words  breathed  in  scorn,  yet  understood 
By  Him  to  bear  a  sense  of  good : 
The  secret  of  the  glorious  strife 
Between  the  powers  of  death  and  life, 
Love's  deepest  truth  —  self-sacrifice  — 
Hid  in  that  mockery  lies. 

And  he  must  understand  it  so 
Who  would  relieve  a  brother's  woe : 


"HIMSELF  HE  CANNOT  SAVE"          53 

He  cannot  shun  his  own  distress  ; 
He  hastes,  with  Christlike  earnestness, 
Although  the  way  be  through  his  grave  : 
Himself  he  cannot  save. 

Some  happy  souls  may  pass  along 
The  heavenward  road  with  smile  and  song, 
Through  guileless  infancy  and  youth 
Linked  in  with  followers  of  the  truth  ; 
And  their  unconsciousness  of  ill 
But  makes  them  lovelier  still. 

Their  peaceful  path  is  not  for  all : 
Each  must  obey  his  separate  call ; 
And  he  is  of  himself  abhorred 
Who  flies  the  summons  of  the  Lord  : 
Sailing  from  danger  unto  ease, 
He  sinks  in  unknown  seas. 

None  longs  so  for  yon  vales  of  peace 
As  he  whom  war  gives  no  release. 
But  exiles'  chains  his  brethren  wear ; 
He  knows  no  rest  they  may  not  share ; 
For  them  all  hardships  he  must  brave  : 
Himself  he  cannot  save. 

Aye,  through  all  pain  and  loneliness, 
Where  men  are  perilled,  he  must  press 
To  rescue,  crying,  "  Woe  is  me, 
Resisting  not  the  wrong  I  see ! 
If  none  uphold  me,  I  must  go, 
Single,  against  the  foe ! ' 


54  BESIDE  THE  CROSS 

And  not  the  warrior-heart  alone 
The  scoffer's  word  for  truth  has  known  :  - 
The  mourner,  weeping  out  the  night 
For  aliens  from  the  one  true  Light ; 
The  watcher  by  the  bed  of  pain, 

Who  knows  her  watch  is  vain ; 

He  who  has  felt  his  heaviest  cross 
Far  lighter  than  another's  loss ; 
He  who  can  ask  and  bear  the  blow 
That  shelters  any  soul  from  woe, 
Sees  why  that  Death  on  Calvary 
Life's  beacon-light  must  be. 

Ring,  mournful  echo,  through  the  world ! 
Float,  banner  of  the  Cross,  unfurled 
To  show  the  servant  who  would  prove 
His  Master's  joy  of  suffering  love, 
That  while  thy  folds  above  him  wave 
Himself  he  cannot  save  ! 


BESIDE  THE   CROSS. 

JESUS,  in  Thy  death  I  see 
What  Thy  life  is  unto  m'e ! 
Now  no  longer  is  the  Cross 
Sign  to  me  of  shame  and  loss  : 
Joy  it  is,  to  share  Thy  pain  ; 
All  I  lose  is  glorious  gain. 
Lord,  to  me  this  blessing  give  — 
In  Thy  death  to  die  —  and  live  ! 


NEAEEE   TO  CHRIST  55 

Jesus,  from  Thy  wounded  side 
Flows  through  me  a  living  tide  ; 
Health  and  hope  and  righteousness  ; 
Power  to  do,  and  will  to  bless. 
Now  am  I  no  more  mine  own  : 
Now  I  live  Thy  life  alone. 
Self  is  slain  without  a  sigh : 
Life  it  is,  with  Thee  to  die  ! 

Jesus,  let  Thy  blood  within 

Cleanse  my  inmost  thoughts  from  sin ; 

Purify  my  lingering  stains  ; 

Be  the  life-throb  in  my  veins  ! 

Be  it  mine  Thy  cross  to  bear, 

And  Thy  sacrifice  to  share  ! 

Be  my  food,  my  strength,  my  breath ! 

Be  my  Life,  and  conquer  death ! 


NEARER  TO  CHRIST. 

DRAW  Thou  my  soul,  O  Christ, 

Closer  to  Thine ! 
Breathe  into  every  wish 

Thy  will  divine ! 
Raised  my  low  self  above, 
Won  by  Thy  deathless  love, 
Ever,  O  Christ,  through  mine 

Let  Thy  life  shine ! 

Lead  forth  my  soul,  O  Christ, 
One  with  Thine  own ; 


56     THE  LAMB  THAT  WAS  SLAIN 

Joyful  to  follow  Thee 

Through  paths  unknown ! 

In  Thee  my  strength  renew ; 

Give  me  Thy  work  to  do  ! 

Through  me  Thy  truth  be  shown, 
Thy  love  made  known ! 

Not  for  myself  alone 
May  my  prayer  be  :  — 

Lift  Thou  Thy  world,  O  Christ, 
Closer  to  Thee ! 

Cleanse  it  from  guilt  and  wrong ; 

Teach  it  salvation's  song ! 

Make  it  alive  in  Thee,  — 
Perfect  in  Thee ! 

Nearer  to  Thee,  0  Christ, 

Nearer  to  Thee ! 
Till  we  in  Thy  dear  face 

God's  glory  see ! 
Heavenward  our  hopes  ascend, 
Saviour  and  Lord  and  Friend ! 
Oh,  draw  us  all  to  Thee, 

Nearer  to  Thee ! 


THE  LAMB   THAT  WAS   SLAIN. 

I  HAD  a  haunting  thought  at  Easter-tide, 
Musing  between  the  twilight  and  the  dawn, 

Of  our  dear  Lord  and  Friend,  who,  having  died, 
Came  to  His  chosen  where  they  were  withdrawn 


THE  LAMB   THAT  WAS  SLAIN  57 

Came,  while  they  talked  of  His  mysterious  death, 
And  doubted  if  He  had  arisen  indeed  ; 

Breathed  on  them  with  His  loving,  living  breath, 
Their    Master,    from    the   grave's    enthrallment 
freed. 

"  Reach  hither,  Thomas !  see  and  touch  my  wounds  ! 

Behold  !  believe  that  it  is  I ! '    He  said. 
Down  unto  us  the  wondrous  word  resounds  ;  — 

The  death-marks  on  Him,  yet  He  was  not  dead. 

They  were  the  sure  proofs  that  He  was  alive  : 
The  doubter's  finger  traced  His  dreadful  scars  : 

Bears  He  not  still  those  fatal  tokens  five 

Within  the  unseen  heavens  beyond  the  stars  ? 

The  heart,  the  hands,  the  feet,  have  bled  for  us  ; 

More  than  our  common  curse  of  death  He  knew : 
Into  His  spotless  nature  glorious 

The  eternal  sorrow  of  our  sins  He  drew. 

This  is  the  wonder  John  in  Patmos  saw,  — 
The  vision  of  a  Lamb  that  had  been  slain : 

Sacred  to  us  forever  is  God's  Law, 

Writ  in  the  awful  print-marks  of  His  pain ! 

Still  is  He  touched  with  our  infirmity  ; 

Yearning  to  win  us  from  our  shame  and  wrong, 
Still  must  His  wounds  throb,  when  we  go  astray 

From  His  dear  Father's  House,  where  we  belong. 

The  memory  of  the  path  for  us  He  trod 

No  splendor  of  the  heaven  of  heavens  can  dim  : 


58  EASTER 

By  His  deep  human  love,  the  Son  of  God 

Must  always  draw  our  human  hearts  to  Him. 


EASTER. 
(SUNSET  AND  SUNRISE.) 

'T  is  Easter  eve  ;  the  day  is  fading  ; 

O  Thou,  with  whom  there  is  no  death, 
While  twilight  every  path  is  shading, 

Breathe  through  us  thy  sweet  Spirit's  breath ! 
And  when  our  last  night  comes,  may  we 

Fall  peacefully  asleep  in  Thee ! 

The  sun  sets  not ;  it  is  earth,  going 

Awhile  to  hide  her  from  the  sun, 
Where  gentler,  cooler  winds  are  blowing  ; 

To  feel  the  coming  day  begun 
Beneath  soft  night's  refreshing  dews  ;  — 

To  wait  for  light  she  cannot  lose. 

To  die  with  Christ  —  it  is  not  dying ; 

It  is  but  sinking  deep  with  Him 
Into  the  Father's  bosom,  lying 

In  that  warm,  sheltering  silence  dim, 
Until  the  radiance  of  His  eyes 

Shines  into  ours,  and  slumber  flies. 

Sunrise  !  —  it  is  the  world  arising :  — 
Her  Lord,  the  Sun,  she  turns  to  meet, 

Strange  beauty  everywhere  surprising 

Her  steps  —  glad  births  of  light  and  heat ; 


CHRIST  IS  ARISEN  59 

It  is  earth's  face  with  joy  aglow 
To  see  life  round  her  bud  and  grow. 

To  rise  with  Christ  —  it  is  awaking 

Into  the  brightness  of  God's  face ; 
It  is  to  see  His  splendor  breaking 

Through  every  form,  in  every  place, 
As  all  along  the  heavenly  way 
Unfolds  the  dawn  of  His  great  day. 

O  Christ !  this  holy  Easter  morning 

Pierce  every  shadow  of  our  sin 
With  love's  dear  beckoning,  truth's  forewarning ! 

Thy  life  anew  in  us  begin  ! 
Let  us  the  Father's  glory  see, 
And  rise  into  His  light  with  Thee ! 


CHRIST  IS  ARISEN. 

VAINLY  we  make  for  Thee  a  grave  apart, 
Each  in  the  lonely  garden  of  his  heart :  — 
Thou,  who  the  Life  and  Love  Eternal  art :  — 
Alleluia  !    Christ  is  arisen  ! 

Where  have  they  laid  our  Lord  ?  we  ask  in  fear  ; 
Nor  know  the  Voice  that  speaks  in  accents  clear : 
"  Why  weepest  thou  ?  Behold  Me  !  I  am  here  !  ' 
Alleluia !  Christ  is  arisen  ! 

While  we  with  tears  bedew  thine  empty  tomb, 
Thy  Face  is  shining  through  the  garden's  gloom  :  — 


60  AS  A  FLOWER 

Lo !  the  birds  singing,  and  the  flowers  in  bloom ! 
Alleluia  !    Christ  is  arisen  ! 

Is  it  our  love  that  makes  our  hearts  so  blind  ? 
With  spice  and  balm  thy  form  we  may  not  bind ; 
Thou  art  alive  for  us  and  all  mankind  ! 
Alleluia  !  Christ  is  arisen  ! 

And  gently  Thou  reprovest —  "  Touch  me  not ! 
Nor  hold  the  feet  back  with  thy  clinging  thought, 
That  rest  not  till  a  heavenlier  work  be  wrought !  ' 
Alleluia  !  Christ  is  arisen  ! 

Dear  Master,  in  Thy  footsteps  let  us  go, 
Till  with  Thy  Presence  all  our  lives  shall  glow, 
And  souls  through  us  Thy  resurrection  know  ! 
Alleluia !    Christ  is  arisen  ! 

Earth  feels  the  dawn  of  Thy  new  day  arrive : 
The  dead  around  us  in  their  graves  revive  : 
In  Thee,  O  Christ !  shall  all  be  made  alive  ! 
Alleluia  !  Christ  is  arisen ! 


AS  A  FLOWER. 

OPEN  your  heart  as  a  flower  to  the  light ! 
Darkness  is  passing ;  the  Sun  is  in  sight ; 
Morning  with  splendor  is  piercing  life  through, 
Arrows  of  radiance,  and  spear-tips  of  dew. 

Glad  is  the  world  in  the  Holy  One's  birth. 
Lo,  the  new  heavens  !  and  lo,  the  new  earth  ! 


RING,  HAPPY  BELLS!  61 

Scattered  and  fled  are  the  phantoms  of  night : 
Christ  is  the  victor,  and  Christ  is  the  Light ! 

Open  your  heart,  and  His  love  will  shine  in, 
Cleansing  and  healing  the  hurt  of  your  sin. 
Who  can  resist  Him,  the  Saviour,  the  Son  ? 
Hell  flies  before  Him,  and  Heaven  is  won. 

Open  your  heart  as  a  flower  to  the  light ! 
Bloom  and  bear  fruit  in  the  glory  of  right ! 
Be  of  His  Presence  a  perfume,  a  ray, 
Child  of  the  morning,  and  heir  of  the  day  ! 


RING,   HAPPY  BELLS! 

RING,  happy  bells  of  Easter  time ! 
The  world  is  glad  to  hear  your  chime ; 
Across  wide  fields  of  melting  snow 
The  winds  of  summer  softly  blow, 
And  birds  and  streams  repeat  the  chime 
Of  Easter  time. 

Ring,  happy  bells  of  Easter  time ! 
The  world  takes  up  your  chant  sublime, 
"  The  Lord  is  risen  !  '      The  night  of  fear 
Has  passed  away,  and  heaven  draws  near 
We  breathe  the  air  of  that  blest  clime, 
At  Easter  time. 

Ring,  happy  bells  of  Easter  time  ! 

Our  happy  hearts  give  back  your  chime  ! 


62  THE  NEW  SONG 

The  Lord  is  risen  !     We  die  no  more : 
He  opens  wide  the  heavenly  door  ; 
He  meets  us,  while  to  Him  we  climb, 
At  Easter  time. 


THE   NEW  SONG. 

OH,  sing,  thou  happy  heart ! 

Thy  world  is  all  in  bloom. 
Sing,  through  the  grateful  tears  that  start 

At  Jesus'  opening  tomb ! 

Sing  !  even  in  grief  be  glad  ! 

Breaks  the  new  day  within  ! 
Thy  path  in  living  green  is  clad ; 

Thou  leavest  behind  thy  sin. 

Sing,  nor  look  backward,  down 

Thy  dark,  deserted  Past ! 
Before  thee  gleams  thy  promised  crown ; 

Thou  shalt  reach  home  at  last. 

Sing, "spirit,  from  the  height 

Where  Love  thy  wing  hath  borne  : 

Sing  to  the  darkness  of  the  light ! 
Sing  to  the  night  of  morn ! 

Oh,  sing,  thou  ransomed  one, 

Sing  of  thy  sins  forgiven  ! 
Sing  to  the  slumberers  of  the  Sun ! 

Sing  to  the  lost  of  Heaven  ! 


OUR  CHRIST  63 


OUR   CHRIST. 

i 

Christ  I  feel  the  heart  of  God 
Throbbing  from  heaven  through  earth ; 
Life  stirs  again  within  the  clod ; 

Renewed  in  beauteous  birth, 
The  soul  springs  up,  a  flower  of  prayer, 
Breathing  His  breath  out  on  the  air. 

In  Christ  I  touch  the  hand  of  God, 
From  His  pure  height  reached  down, 

By  blessed  ways  before  untrod, 
To  lift  us  to  our  crown  ; 

Victory  that  only  perfect  is 

Through  loving  sacrifice,  like  His. 

Holding  His  hand,  my  steadied  feet 

May  walk  the  air,  the  seas  ; 
On  life  and  death  His  smile  falls  sweet, 

Lights  up  all  mysteries  : 
Stranger  nor  exile  can  I  be 
In  new  worlds  where  He  leadeth  me. 

Not  my  Christ  only  ;  He  is  ours  ; 

Humanity's  close  bond  ; 
Key  to  its  vast,  unopened  powers, 

Dream  of  our  dreams  beyond. 
What  yet  we  shall  be  none  can  tell : 
Now  are  we  His,  and  all  is  well. 


64  HIS  BIRTHDAY 


HIS   BIRTHDAY. 

IT  is  His  birthday  —  His,  the  Holy  Child  ! 
And  innocent  childhood  blossoms  now  anew, 
Under  the  dropping  of  celestial  dew 
Into  its  heart,  out  of  this  heavenlier  Flower, 
That  penetrates  the  lowliest  roof-tree  bower 

With  fragrance  of  an  Eden  undefiled : 

O  happy  children,  praise  Him  in  your  mirth,  - 
The  Son  of  God  born  with  you  on  the  earth ! 

It  is  His  birthday  —  His,  in  whom  our  youth 
Becomes  immortal.     Nothing  good,  or  sweet, 
Or  beautiful,  or  needful  to  complete 
The  being  that  He  shares,  shall  suffer  blight ; 
All  that  in  us  His  Father  can  delight, 

He  saves,  He  makes  eternal  as  His  truth. 
Praise  Him  for  one  another,  loyal  friends  ! 
The  friendship  He  awakens  never  ends. 

It  is  His  birthday  —  and  this  world  of  ours 
Is  a  new  earth,  since  He  has  dwelt  therein ; 
Is  even  as  heaven,  since  One  Life  without  sin 
Made  it  a  home.     His  voice  is  in  the  air ; 
His  face  looks  forth  from  beauty  everywhere ; 

His  breath  is  sweetness  at  the  soul  of  flowers  ; 
And  in  Him  —  joy  beyond  all  joy  of  these  — 
Man  wakes  to  glorious  possibilities. 

It  is  His  birthday  —  and  our  birthday,  too  ! 
Humanity  was  one  long  dream  of  Him, 


WOMAN'S  CHRISTMAS  65 

Until  He  came :  with  fitful  glow,  and  dim, 

The    altars     heavenward    smoked     from   vague 

desire, 

Despair  half  stifling  aspiration's  fire. 
He  is  man's  lost  ideal,  shining  through 

This  life  of  ours,  whereinto  floweth  His,  — 
God,  interblent  with  human  destinies. 

It  is  His  birthday —  His,  the  only  One 

Who  ever  made  life's  meaning  wholly  plain ; 
Dawn  is  He  to  our  night !     No  longer  vain 
And  purposeless  our  onward-struggling  years ; 
The  hope  He  bringeth  overfloods  our  fears : 

Now  do  we  know  the  Father  through  the  Son  ! 
O  earth,  O  heart,  be  glad  on  this  glad  morn ! 
God  is  with  man  !  Life,  Life  to  us  is  born ! 


WOMAN'S   CHRISTMAS. 

"  For  unto  us  a  Child  is  born." 

Nor,  Mary,  unto  thee  alone, 

Though  blessed  among  women  thou  : 
Not  thine,  nor  yet  thy  nation's  own, 

With  that  large  glory  on  His  brow. 

Thou  bendest  in  awe  above  the  Child, 
The  cradled  Hope  of  all  the  race ; 

The  perfect  One,  the  Undefiled, 
A  saved  world  shining  in  His  face. 

Thou  bendest  in  awe  ;  we  bend  with  thee, 
Forgetting  bygone  loneliness. 


66  WOMAN'S  CHRISTMAS 

Our  heart's  desire  fulfilled  is  He  ; 
Our  solitude  He  comes  to  bless. 

By  the  close  bond  01  womanhood, 

By  the  prophetic  mother-heart, 
Forever  visioning  unshaped  good, 

Mary,  in  Him  we  claim  our  part. 

This  baby's  Face  is  as  the  sun 

Upon  the  dimness  of  our  way ; 
This  child's  Arm  ours  to  lean  upon 

When  mortal  strength  and  hope  decay. 

Our  path,  erewhile  so  desolate, 

His  dear  beatitudes  adorn  ; 
Earth  is  a  heavenward-opening  gate, 

Since  unto  us  this  Child  is  born. 

Born  unto  us,  who  vainly  seek 

The  fair  ideal  of  our  dreams 
Among  its  mockeries,  blurred  and  weak  : 

He  crowns  the  manhood  He  redeems. 

To  us,  who  trust  that  men  will  grow 
Grander  than  thought  or  guess  of  ours, 

When  this  pure  Life  through  theirs  shall  flow, 
This  Health  divine  stir  all  their  powers. 

O  Hebrew  maiden,  even  to  us, 
Thy  sisters,  scattered  over  earth, 

God  sent  this  Infant  glorious, 
This  one  divinely-human  birth. 


WOMAN'S  EASTER  67 

What  were  our  poor  lives  worth,  if  thence 
Flowered  forth  no  world-perfuming  good, 

No  love-growth  of  Omnipotence  ? 
The  childless  share  thy  motherhood. 

All  holy  thoughts,  all  prayer  and  praise, 

Wherewith  our  Christ  hath  made  life  sweet, 

Through  us  undying  voices  raise, 

One  Name  —  His  Father's  —  to  repeat. 

Breathe,  weary  women  everywhere, 
The  freshness  of  this  heavenly  morn  ! 

The  blessing  that  He  is,  we  share ; 
For  unto  us  this  Child  is  born ! 


WOMAN'S   EASTER. 

WITH  Mary,  ere  dawn,  in  the  garden, 
I  stand  at  the  tomb  of  the  Lord  ; 

I  share  in  her  sorrowing  wonder  ; 

I  hear  through  the  darkness  a  word,  — 

The  first  the  dear  Master  hath  spoken, 

Since  the  awful  death-stillness  was  broken. 

He  calleth  her  tenderly,  —  "  Mary  !  " 
Sweet,  sweet  is  His  voice  in  the  gloom. 

He  spake  to  us  first,  oh  my  sisters, 
So  breathing  our  lives  into  bloom ! 

He  lifteth  our  souls  out  of  prison  ! 

We,  earliest,  saw  Him  arisen  ! 


68     THE  LILY  OF  THE  EESUEEECTION 

He  lives !     Read  you  not  the  glad  tidings 
In  our  eyes,  that  have  gazed  into  His  ? 

He  lives !     By  His  light  on  our  faces 
Believe  it,  and  come  where  He  is  ! 

O  doubter,  and  you  who  denied  Him, 

Return  to  your  places  beside  Him  ! 

The  message  of  His  resurrection 
To  man  it  was  woman's  to  give : 

It  is  fresh  in  her  heart  through  the  ages : 
"  He  lives,  that  ye  also  may  live, 

Unfolding,  as  He  hath,  the  story 

Of  manhood's  attainable  glory." 

O  Sun,  on  our  souls  first  arisen, 

Give  us  light  for  the  spirits  that  grope ! 

Make  us  loving  and  steadfast  and  loyal 
To  bear  up  humanity's  hope  ! 

O  Friend,  who  forsakest  us  never, 

Breathe  through  us  thy  errands  forever ! 


THE   LILY   OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

WHILE  the  lily  dwells  in  earth, 

Walled  about  with  crumbling  mould, 

She  the  secret  of  her  birth 

Guesses  not,  nor  has  been  told. 

Hides  the  brown  bulb  in  the  ground, 

Knowing  not  she  is  a  flower  ; 
Knowing  not  she  shall  be  crowned 

As  a  queen,  with  white-robed  power. 


THE  LILY  OF  THE  EESUEEECTION      69 

Though  her  whole  life  is  one  thrill 

Upward,  unto  skies  unseen, 
In  her  husks  she  wraps  her  still, 

Wondering  what  her  visions  mean. 

Shivering,  while  the  bursting  scales 
Leave  her  heart  bare,  with  a  sigh 

She  her  unclad  state  bewails, 
Whispering  to  herself,  "  I  die." 

Die  ?     Then  may  she  welcome  death, 

Leaving  darkness  underground, 
Breathing  out  her  sweet,  free  breath 

Into  the  new  heavens  around. 

Die  ?     She  bathes  in  ether  warm  : 

Beautiful  without,  within, 
See  at  last  the  imprisoned  form 

All  its  fair  proportions  win  ! 

Life  it  means,  this  impulse  high 
Which  through  every  rootlet  stirs  : 

Lo  !  the  sunshine  and  the  sky 
She  was  made  for,  now  are  hers  ! 

Soul,  thou  too  art  set  in  earth, 

Heavenward  through  the  dark  to  grow  : 
Dreamest  thou  of  thy  royal  birth  ? 

Climb  !  and  thou  shalt  surely  know. 

Shuddering  Doubt  to  Nature  cries,  — 
Nature,  though  she  smiles,  is  dumb,  — 


70  "  YE  SHALL  LIVE  ALSO  " 

"  How  then  can  the  dead  arise  ? 
With  what  body  do  they  come  ?  ' 

Lo,  the  unfolding  mystery  ! 

We  shall  bloom,  some  wondrous  hour, 
As  the  lily  blooms,  when  she 

Dies  a  bulb,  to  live  a  flower  ! 


"YE  SHALL  LIVE   ALSO." 

SAY  not  of  thy  friend  departed, 

"  He  is  dead :  "  —  he  is  but  grown 
Larger-souled  and  deeper-hearted, 

Blossoming  into  skies  unknown. 
All  the  air  of  earth  is  sweeter 

For  his  being's  full  release  ; 
And  thine  own  life  is  completer 

For  his  conquest  and  his  peace. 

Roll  the  stone  from  sorrow's  prison, 

White-robed  angel,  holy  Faith, 
Till  with  Christ  we  have  arisen, 

And  believe  the  word  He  saith ! 
Heaven  is  life  to  Life  brought  nearer 

Love  withdraws,  more  love  to  give : 
Hearts  to  hearts  in  Him  are  dearer :  - 

"  Lo !  I  live,  and  ye  shall  live  !  " 


THE  HEAET  OF  GOD  71 


THE  HEART  OF   GOD. 

O  LIFE,  that  breathest  in  all  sweet  things 
That  bud  and  bloom  upon  the  earth, 

That  fillest  the  sky  with  songs  and  wings, 

That  walkest  the  world  through  human  birth  ; 

O  Life,  that  lightest  in  every  man 
A  spark  of  Thine  own  being's  flame, 

And  wilt  that  spark  to  glory  fan, 

Our  listening  souls  would  hear  Thy  name. 

Thou  art  the  Eternal  Christ  of  God, 

The  Life  unending,  unbegun  ; 
The  Deity  brightening  through  the  clod, 

The  presence  of  the  Invisible  One. 

Though  dear  traditions  wrap  Thee  round 

In  Bethlehem  and  in  Nazareth, 
With  every  soul  Thy  home  is  found, 

On  every  shore  of  life  and  death. 

Before  the  pyramids  were  built, 

Before  the  time  of  Abraham, 
To  the  world's  first-born,  blind  with  guilt, 

Thou  earnest,  the  enlightening  word,  "  I  AM." 

To  free  from  sin's  entangling  mesh 

Our  wandering  race,  Thy  brethren  dear, 

Thou  veiledst  Thyself  in  mortal  flesh ; 
A  man  with  men  Thou  didst  appear. 


72  THE  HEART  OF  GOD 

The  voice  that  unto  poet  and  sage 

Whispered  of  God  at  hand,  unknown, 

Hath  written  itself  on  history's  page, 
Speaks  in  a  language  like  our  own : 

Speaks  to  us  now,  from  day  to  day, 

"Wafts  heavenly  peace  through  earthly  care ; 

Inspires  our  faint  humanity 

Thy  crown  to  seek,  Thy  cross  to  bear. 

Thy  voice  is  sweet  in  brook  and  bird, 
And  boughs  that  over  home-roofs  bend ; 

And  dear  in  every  kindly  word, 

Borne  from  the  lip  of  friend  to  friend. 

Thy  smile  is  in  the  wayside  flower, 
That  opens  like  a  child's  blue  eye, 

Not  less  than  in  the  sunset  hour, 

When  breathless  wonder  thrills  the  sky. 

Thou  livest,  most  human,  most  Divine ! 

To  no  veiled  Fate  or  Force  we  bow : 
Far  off  God's  blinding  splendors  shine  ; 

His  near,  deep  tenderness  art  Thou ! 

His  heart,  whose  truth  can  never  fail, 
However  ours  may  change  or  stray ; 

Before  whose  love  all  friendships  pale, 
Our  trust  when  worlds  and  suns  decay. 

For  love  remains,  whatever  dies  ; 

The  love  that  breathed  us  into  bloom, 


THE  HEART  OF  GOD  73 

And  set  us  in  the  eternities, 

To  fill  their  void  with  life's  perfume. 

Revealer  of  our  being's  design, 

Through  Thee,  because  of  Thee,  we  are : 
Sacred  our  life,  since  it  is  Thine ; 

No  hopeless  blight  its  growth  shall  mar. 

Into  the  awful  vague  of  death 

We  follow,  where  Thou  leadest  the  way ; 
Feel,  through  its  damps,  Thy  living  breath ; 

See  Thee  flood  all  its  dark  with  day. 

We  follow,  and  we  find  our  own, 

Whom  the  grave  covered  from  our  sight ; 

We  know  them,  even  as  we  are  known, 

Clothed  on  with  heaven's  transfiguring  light. 

O  Love,  O  Friend,  our  toil  is  sweet, 
Our  burden  light,  for  Thou  art  near  ; 

And  Nature's  harmonies  repeat 
Thy  Name,  to  every  creature  dear. 

0  Love,  O  Friend,  Thy  name  is  God ! 

Lord  of  the  unseen  and  the  known ! 
Thy  thoughts  the  universe  have  trod, 

With  worlds  like  sands  of  silver  strown. 

The  lonely  spheres  cry  out  to  Thee 

To  multiply  Thy  life  in  them : 
Souls  worthier  than  the  stars  must  be 

To  sparkle  in  Thy  diadem. 


74  THE  HEART  OF  GOD 

There  are  who  hold  Thy  truth,  and  yet 

Thyself  disown,  its  origin  ; 
Thee  as  a  stranger  they  have  met, 

Nor  recognized  the  Guest  within ; 

And  some  who  seem  to  hear  are  deaf. 

Lip-service  mocks  thy  sacrifice  : 
Unlovingness  is  unbelief ; 

Untruthful  lives  are  heresies. 

But  where  men  aim  at  noblest  things, 
Where  beats  a  pure  and  generous  heart, 

Where  thought  leads  up  on  heavenward  wings, 
There,  Saviour  of  the  world,  Thou  art ! 

One  God  to  all  eternity, 

Thou  livest,  the  Only  and  the  Same ; 
Yet  ever  to  humanity 

Art  dearest  by  Thy  human  name- 
Weary  of  system  and  of  plan, 

Life  of  our  life,  we  turn  to  Thee ; 
Divine  Ideal  of  struggling  man, 

Help  us  in  man  Thy  face  to  see ! 

Lead  us  through  these  bewildering  ways 
Of  pain  and  beauty  Thou  hast  trod  ! 

Thou  art  our  creed,  our  prayer,  our  praise, 
O  Christ,  Thou  human  Heart  of  God ! 


HIS  CHURCH  75 


HIS  CHURCH. 

WITNESS  to  His  eternal  pity 

For  the  world's  wanderers  it  stands, 

The  House  of  God,  the  Holy  City, 

Builded  of  light,  not  made  with  hands. 

Without  are  loneliness  and  danger ; 

Within  are  warmth,  and  food,  and  songs  : 
Here  is  no  alien  and  no  stranger ; 

Here  every  soul  of  man  belongs. 

No  saved  child  calls  to  his  lost  brother, 

"  See  !  I  am  holier  than  thou !  ' 
In  Christ  they  recognize  each  other ; 

His  name  is  written  on  every  brow. 

And  in  His  name  all  outcasts  enter, 

And  claim  their  birthright  through  His  love 

His  Church  is  the  great  human  centre 

Towards  which  earth's  generations  move. 

They  come,  to  share  His  consecration  ; 

To  drink  His  cup  of  sacrifice  ; 
To  be  fresh  wells  of  His  salvation, 

That  in  life's  desert  shall  arise. 

One  home,  —  the  hearthstone  of  the  Father  ; 

One  table,  spread  by  His  dear  Son  ; 
One  Spirit  drawing  us  together  ; 

God's  family  in  Him  made  one  ! 


76  THE  BLESSED  COMPANY 

Christ  tells  the  world  her  own  true  story  ; 

Her  failing  cup  fills  to  its  brim 
With  love,  and  blessedness,  and  glory  ; 

We  find  each  other,  finding  Him. 

, 

His  Church  is  heaven  and  earth  in  union  ; 

The  lift  of  wings,  the  clasp  of  hands ! 
God  offering  man  divine  communion  !  — 

The  door  forever  open  stands. 


THE  BLESSED  COMPANY. 

GOD  never  meant  us  to  be  separated 

From  one  another,  in  our  work  and  thought ; 
Spirits  that  share  His  Spirit  He  has  mated, 
That  so  His  loving  purpose  may  be  wrought, 
His  gracious  will  be  done 
In  earth  and  heaven,  as  one : 
O  blessed  company  of  all  the  true,  — 
His  holy  Church,  —  may  I  belong  to  you  ? 

Ye  are  His  people ;  but  around  you  slumber 

The  hosts  of  God  your  summons  must  arouse 
To  join  the  multitude  no  man  can  number ; 

Even   in   their   dreams    they   whisper  now   the 

vows 

Their  happy  lips  will  take 
When  they  to  Him  awake. 
Ye,  through  whom  every  day  His  breath  anew 
Creates  His  worlds,  I  would  belong  to  you ! 


THE  BLESSED   COMPANY  11 

Thou,  Father,  hast  made  every  man  a  brother 

To  every  other  man,  and  in  thy  Son 
Renewest  the  bond :  if  we  despise  each  other, 

We    scorn    Thee,   in    whose    eyes    all    souls  are 

one. 

Ye  heirs  disguised,  look  up  ! 
Drink  from  the  royal  cup  ! 

Your  grimy  robes  His  form  is  outlined  through  : 
It  is  His  flesh  and  blood  I  share  with  you. 

His  Church,  —  it  is  the  home  of  every  spirit 

That  looked   and  longed   for  Him   before    He 

came  ; 

That  hears  God's  voice  now,  or  shall  ever  hear  it, 
Through  the  dire  discord  of  earth's  outcast  shame. 
He  knoweth  who  are  His  : 
His  seal  upon  them  is. 

O  scattered,  wandering  flock  !     O  loyal  few  ! 
One  Shepherd  claims  us  !     I  belong  to  you  ! 

In  His  clear  sight  what  can  it  matter  whether 
We  wear  this  badge  or  that,  or  none  at  all, 
If  we  but  cleave  to  Him,  and  fight  together 
Against  His  foes,  wherever  He  may  call  ? 
If  He  this  weak  heart  win 
From  shameful  truce  with  sin,  — 
If  He  will  make  me  brave  and  keep  me  true,  — • 
Then,  O  ye  faithful,  I  am  one  of  you ! 

What  can  the  servant  do  without  his  Master  ? 
And  what,   without  the  Bridegroom,   were    the 
Bride  ? 


78  "  IN  REMEMBRANCE  OF  ME  " 

Behold,  He  cometh !     Onward,  comrades,  faster, 
Out  of  the  wilderness  unto  His  side  ! 

Ah,  Bride  !  the  desert  glows 

Around  thee  like  the  rose  ! 

Thy  welcoming  glance  His  smile  is  shining  through  ; 
Oh,  take  me  in,  to  live  my  life  with  you ! 


"  IN  REMEMBRANCE  OF  ME." 

WHO  could  refuse 
The  last  wish  of  a  friend  ? 
Loving  unto  the  end, 

Fain  would  His  love  transfuse 
Itself  into  the  lives  He  left  behind, 
That  in  their  souls  Him  they  might  always  find. 

"  Remember  Me  ! ' 
It  was  Christ's  last  request, 
Unto  His  own  addressed : 

And  all  souls  claimeth  He ; 
Only  by  Him  our  human  hearts  are  fed 
With  spiritual  wine  and  living  bread. 

By  One  so  dear 
Invited,  who  would  stay 
In  loneliness  away  ? 

O  friends,  let  us  draw  near ! 
For  in  us  now  His  image  grows  too  dim : 
Let  us  forget  ourselves,  remembering  Him  ! 


OUR  DAILY  BREAD  79 


AT   THE   FEAST. 

THIS  is  not  only  bread  and  wine  — 
Thy  body  and  Thy  blood  — 

It  is  Thyself,  Thy  Life  Divine, 
That  is  our  spirit's  food. 

It  is  the  feast  of  Life,  not  death, 

That  now  we  celebrate  ; 
Breathe  into  us  Thy  Spirit's  breath, 

As  here  for  Thee  we  wait ! 

Thou  art  alive !     O  let  us  be 

To  life  in  Thee  restored  ! 
The  new  wine  of  Thy  Kingdom  we 

Would  drink  with  Thee,  dear  Lord  ! 


OUR   DAILY  BREAD. 

WHAT  is  the  daily  bread, 
Father,  we  ask  of  Thee,  — 

We,  who  must  still  be  fed 
Out  of  Thy  bounty  free  ? 

Not  at  the  household  board 
Is  our  deep  want  supplied  : 

Bins  may  be  amply  stored, 
And  souls  unsatisfied. 

For  not  by  bread  alone 

Can  we,  Thy  children,  live  : 


80  OUR  DAILY  BEE  AD 

Some  heavenly  food  unknown 
Thou  unto  us  must  give. 

We  ask  not  meat  to  nurse 
Ambition's  vain  desire, 

Nor  greed  of  gain,  the  curse 
Of  inward  cankering  fire  ; 

Nor  the  poor,  tasteless  husks 
That  swine  have  torn  and  trod 

And  ground  with  beastly  tusks  : 
Let  clod  be  given  to  clod  ! 

Nurtured  we  all  must  be 
By  Thy  sweet  Word  alone : 

Asking  this  bread  of  Thee, 
Thou  wilt  not  give  a  stone. 

Thy  Life,  O  God  !    Thy  Word, 
Outspoken  through  Thy  Son  ! 

In  Him  our  prayer  is  heard, 
Our  heart's  desire  is  won. 

To  sacrifice,  to  share, 

To  give,  even  as  He  gave  ; 

For  others'  wants  to  care  ; 
Not  our  own  lives  to  save ; 

With  love  for  all  around 

Our  days  and  hours  to  fill  :  — 

Thus  be  it  ever  found 

Our  meat  to  do  Thy  will  ! 


"MY  CUP  EUNNETH  OVEE"  81 

This  is  the  living  bread 

Which  cometh  down  from  Heaven, 
Wherewith  our  souls  are  fed  ; 

The  pure,  immortal  leaven. 

The  hidden  manna  this, 

Whereof  who  eateth,  he 
Grows  up  in  perfectness 

Of  Christ-like  symmetry. 

Who  seeks  this  bread  shall  be 

Nor  stinted,  nor  denied  : 
Our  hungry  souls  in  Thee, 

O  Christ,  are  satisfied  ! 


"MY  CUP   RUNNETH  OVER." 

WHEREFORE  drink  with   me,   friends  !     It  is   no 

draught 

Of  red  intoxication  ;  at  its  brim 
No  vine-wreathed  head  of  Bacchus  ever  laughed,  — 
This  homely  cup  of  mine,  now  worn  and  dim 
With  time's  rough  usage  ;  no  bright  bubbles  swim, 
Or  foam-beads  sparkle  over.  —  Have  ye  quaffed 
These  waters  clear,  and  felt  the  Shepherd  waft 
His  breath  of  life  through  souls  that  follow  Him  ? 
He  cools  my  feverish  fancies  ;  calms  the  stir 
Of  dreams  whose  end  was  only  bitterness. 
Healed  at  this  fount  our  inmost  ail  would  be, 
Did  we  but  health  before  disease  prefer. 


82  HYMNS  OF  A  DAY 

My  cup  is  filled  at  wells  whose  blessedness 

A  world's  thirst  cannot  drain.     Friends,  drink  with 


me ! 


HYMNS   OF  A  DAY. 

DAWN. 

O  GOD,  Thy  world  is  sweet  with  prayer ; 
The  breath  of  Christ  is  in  the  air  ; 
We  rise  on  Thy  free  Spirit's  wings, 
And  every  thought  within  us  sings. 

Thou  art  our  Morning  and  our  Sun ; 
Our  work  is  glad,  in  Thee  begun ; 
Our  footworn  path  is  fresh  with  dew, 
For  Thou  createst  all  things  new. 

O  God,  within  us  and  above, 
Close  to  us  in  the  Christ  we  love, 
Through  Him,  our  only  Guide  and  Way, 
May  heavenly  life  be  ours  to-day ! 


NOONTIDE. 

When  the  weary  noonday  heat 
Scorches  hillside,  lane  and  street, 
May  my  life  a  breeze  and  shade 
For  Thy  wayfarers  be  made  ! 

Of  Thy  river,  full  and  free, 
Send  a  cooling  draught  by  me, 


HYMNS  OF  A  DAY  83 

That  Thy  thirsty  ones  may  bless 
Thine  abounding  tenderness. 

Let  Thy  joy  and  beauty  grow 
In  my  path  for  them,  that  so 
We  may  see  that  Thou  hast  given 
Earth  to  be  our  road  to  heaven. 

Let  me  bear  Thy  love's  perfume 
Into  haunts  of  guilt  and  gloom, 
Winning  so  the  sin-sick  one 
Forth  to  Thee,  the  Light,  the  Sun  ! 

Let  me  wash  Thy  wanderers'  feet, 
Take  them  in,  and  bid  them  eat ! 
While  they  share  my  daily  bread, 
May  our  souls  by  Thee  be  fed ! 

Make  my  heart  a  home  and  rest 
For  Thine  outcast  and  oppressed ! 
Let  us  find,  of  Thy  sweet  grace, 
In  Thyself  our  dwelling-place  ! 

t 

Shut  for  one  calm  hour  away 
From  the  clamor  of  the  day, 
All  our  work  will  happier  be 
For  this  noontide  rest  with  Thee ! 


NIGHTFALL. 


Softly  has  the  night  descended  ; 
Now  in  darkness  day  is  ended : 


84  SUNRISE  IN   THE  CITY 

Starry  watchers  without  number 

Guard  the  wide  world  wrapped  in  slumber., 

Sleep,  O  weary  ones  and  lowly  ! 
Jesus  send  you  visions  holy 
Out  of  unveiled  heavenly  places, 
Luminous  with  angel-faces  ! 

Jesus  slept  within  death's  portal ; 
Opened  it  to  life  immortal ; 
Lighted  up  our  human  story 
With  the  promise  of  His  glory. 

Pilgrim,  sleep  !  forget  thy  sorrow! 
Sleep,  in  sure  hope  of  to-morrow : 
Rise,  then,  to  divine  endeavor ! 
Rise,  to  share  His  life  forever ! 


SUNRISE  IN  THE  CITY. 

THE  sunrise  over  the  houses  ! 

The  beautiful  rose  of  dawn 
Reddening  the  eastern  windows,  — 

The  curtains  of  Night  withdrawn! 

More  lovely  than  boughs  in  blossom 
The  spires  and  the  roof-trees  glow, 

It  is  day  ;  and,  in  God  awaking, 
Shall  the  spirit  unfold  and  grow. 

On  the  city,  in  chrismal  splendor. 
The  blessing  of  morning  falls :  — 


SUNKISE  IN  THE  CITY  85 

The  Bride  coming  down  out  of  heaven  !  — 
The  pearl-gates,  the  jasper  walls  ! 

The  white  light  enters  the  casement 

Like  the  wings  of  the  Holy  Dove  ; 
And  everv  house  is  a  flower. 

v 

A  blossom  of  peace  and  love. 

The  sunrise  is  fair  on  the  gardens, 

The  groves  and  the  forests  afar ; 
But  fairer  the  trees  of  manhood, 

Of  the  heavenly  planting  are. 

And  wide  are  the  green  savannas 

That  under  the  dawn  unroll ; 
But  broader  the  landscape  opens 

In  the  sunrise  of  a  soul ! 

The  footsteps  of  morning  hasten 

Across  yonder  populous  space, 
And  the  dwellings  of  men  are  illumined 

With  the  glory  of  God's  own  face. 

Who  can  guess  the  power  of  His  coming  ? 

He  will  banish  doubt  and  despair  ; 
The  life  of  His  Spirit  will  kindle 

And  stir  in  the  sleepers  there. 

Behold  the  Day  Star  ascending ! 

See  the  hour  of  His  triumph  begin ! 
The  sunrise  over  the  houses  ! 

And  the  Christ-light  shining  in  ' 


86  CHILDREN'S  JUNE  SONG 


CHILDREN'S  JUNE   SONG. 

LITTLE  ones,  let  us  be  happy  together 

In  this  beautiful  world  of  ours  ! 
Let  us  be  glad  in  this  sweet  June  weather, 

With  the  birds  and  the  breezes  and  flowers,  • 
With  the  grass  and  the  earth,  with  the  sky  and  the 

sun  — 
Let  us  be  glad  in  the  summer  begun  ! 

There  are  praises  rising,  and  prayers  are  springing, 

From  the  heart  of  creation  to-day  ; 
Hark  !  Faith  with  a  chant  and  a  carol  is  winging 

Her  flight  up  the  heavenly  way ! 
Let  thought  unto  thought  with  the  sweetness  ring ! 
Little  ones,  open  your  hearts  and  sing  ! 

For  a  loving  life  breathes  a  fragrance  dearer 

To  God  than  the  breath  of  a  rose, 
And  the  song  of  the  soul  has  a  melody  clearer 

Than  the  lark  or  the  linnet  knows  ; 
And  ever  He  leans  from  the  silence  dim 
And  waits  for  the  music  you  make  to  Him. 

Little  ones,  let  us  be  part  of  the  story 

Of  joy  that  the  world  has  to  tell ! 
Let  us  bloom  in  the  beauty  and  sing  of  the  glory 

Of  God,  who  has  loved  us  so  well ! 
Let  us  give  Him  ourselves,  for  to  Him  we  belong  — 
Each  life  be  His  blossom,  each  soul  be  His  song ! 


WANDERERS'    HYMN  87 


WANDERERS'   HYMN. 

O  GOD,  from  Thee  we  would  not  stray: 
Reveal  to  us  Thyself,  the  Way ! 
Recall  us,  claim  us  when  we  roam  ! 
Thou  art  our  country  and  our  home. 

With  Thee,  in  Thee  alone  is  rest : 
Thou  art  our  East,  and  Thou  our  West. 
Our  little  lives  of  Thine  are  part : 
No  boundaries  bar  us  from  Thy  heart. 

Through  starless  night,  through  mist  and  gale, 
Thou  art  the  shore  toward  which  we  sail ; 
We  bid  farewell  to  friends  most  kind, 
But  never  leave  Thy  love  behind. 

It  perfumes  every  foreign  flower ; 
It  brightens  every  homesick  hour; 
It  greets  us  in  the  stranger's  eye, 
With  the  heart's  question  and  reply. 

For  none  are  alien,  none  are  strange, 
Met  in  the  Love  that  cannot  change  ; 
We  all  are  brethren  in  Thy  Son  — 
The  Father  and  the  children  one. 

O  Christ,  Thou  art  the  atmosphere 
Of  heaven,  breathed  into  mortals  here ! 
Sharing  Thy  holy  sacrifice 
We  live,  and  sin  within  us  dies. 


*A  CANTICLE  IN  WAR 

Be  in  us !  Let  Thy  Spirit  strong 

Inspire  towards  good,  and  win  from  wrong ; 

Save  us  from  base  and  sinful  strife, 

And  draw  us  closer,  life  to  life ! 


We  are  but  orphans,  Lord,  till  we 

Thine  in  each  other's  face  can  see ; 

O  shelter  us,  below,  above, 

In  Thy  great  heights  and  depths  of  Love ! 


A   CANTICLE  IN  WAR. 

(A.  D.  1863.) 

GLORY  to  Thee,  Father  of  all  the  Immortal, 

Ever  belongs  : 

We  bring   Thee   from    our  watch  by  the   grave's 
portal 

Nothing  but  songs. 
Though  every  wave  of  trouble  has -gone  o'er  us, — 

Though  in  the  fire 
We  have  lost  treasures  time  cannot  restore  us,  — 

Though  all  desire 
That  made  life  beautiful  fades  out  in  sorrow,  — 

Though  the  strange  path 
Winding  so  lonely  through  the  bleak  to-morrow, 

No  comfort  hath,  — 
Though  blackness  gathers  round  us  on  all  faces, 

And  we  can  see 
By  the  red  war-flash  but  Love's  empty  places,  — 

Glory  to  Thee  ! 


A  CANTICLE  IN  WAR  89 

For,  underneath  the  crash  and  roar  of  battle, 

The  deafening  roll 
That  calls  men  off  to  butchery  like  cattle, 

Soul  after  soul ; 
Under  the  horrid  sound  of  chaos  seething 

In  blind,  hot  strife, 
We  feel  the  moving  of  Thy  Spirit,  breathing 

A  better  life 
Into  the  air  of  our  long-sickened  nation  ; 

A  muffled  hymn  ; 
The  star-sung  prelude  of  a  new  creation ; 

Suffusions  dim,  — 
The  bursting  upward  of  a  stifled  glory, 

That  shall  arise 
To  light  new  pages  in  the  world's  great  story 

For  happier  eyes. 

If  upon  lips  too  close  to  dead  lips  leaning, 

Songs  be  not  found, 
Yet  wilt  Thou  know  our  life's  unuttered  meaning : 

In  its  deep  ground, 
As  seeds  in  earth,  sleep  sorrow-drenched  praises, 

Waiting  to  bring 
Incense  to  Thee  along  thought's  barren  mazes 

When  Thou  send'st  spring. 

Glory  to  Thee  !  we  say,  with  shuddering  wonder, 

While  a  hushed  land 
Hears  the  stern  lesson  syllabled  in  thunder, 

That  Truth  is  grand 
As  life  must  be  ;  that  neither  man  nor  nation 

May  soil  thy  throne 


90  A  CANTICLE  IN  WAR 

With  a  soul's  life-blood  —  horrible  oblation  ! 

Nor  quick  be  shown 

That  Thou  wilt  not  be   mocked  by  prayer  whose 
nurses 

Were  Hate  and  Wrong ; 
That  trees  so  vile  must  drop  back  fruit  in  curses 

Bitter  and  strong. 

Glory  to  Thee,  who  wilt  not  let  us  smother 

Ourselves  in  sin ; 
Sending  Pain's  messengers  fast  on  each  other 

Us  thence  to  win  ! 
Praise  for  the  scourging  under  which  we  languish, 

So  torn,  so  sore ! 
And  save  us  strength,  if  yet  uncleansed  by  anguish, 

To  welcome  more. 
Life  were  not  life  to  us,  could  they  be  fables,  — 

Justice  and  Right :  % 

Scathe  crime  with  lightning,  till  we  see  the  tables 

Of  Law  burn  bright! 

Glory  to  Thee,  whose  glory  and  whose  pleasure 

Must  be  in  good ! 
By  Thee  the  mysteries  we  cannot  measure 

Are  understood. 
With  the  abysses  of  Thyself  above  us, 

Our  sins  below, 

That  Thou  dost  look  from  Thy  pure  heaven   and 
love  us, 

Enough  to  know. 
Enough  to  lay  our  praises  on  Thy  bosom  — 

Praises  fresh-grown 


LIFE  IS  GROWTH  91 

Out  of  our  depths,  dark  root  and  open  blossom, 

Up  to  Thy  throne. 
When  choking  tears  make  our  Hosannas  falter, 

The  music  free ! 
Oh,  keep  clear  voices  singing  at  Thy  altar, 

Glory  to  Thee ! 


LIFE  IS   GROWTH. 

(SUNG  AT  A    BEDEDICATION,   WHEATON    SEMINARY, 
MASSACHUSETTS. ) 

LIFE  is  growth,  and  growth  is  change : 
Shall  the  new  be  counted  strange, 
While  the  rich  Past  lends  perfume 

To  the  Present  in  its  bloom  ? 

. 

Giving  on  —  as  they  have  given, 
Passed  beyond  us  into  heaven  — 
Hearts  in  this  Thy  service,  Lord, 
Find  their  gift  its  own  reward. 

New  things  blossom  out  of  old ; 
Fading  lives  with  youth  unfold, 
Standing  in  Thy  sunrise  bright, 
Bearing  flower  and  fruit  of  light. 

Looking  up  into  Thy  face, 
Let  us  broaden,  in  our  place ; 
Glad  in  opening  wide  our  doors,  — — 
Glad  in  pouring  out  our  stores ! 


92  HIS  STAE  IN   THE  WEST 

Let  our  wish,  our  plan,  our  end, 
With  Thy  widening  purpose  blend  ! 
Shape  Thou  what  we  will  and  do  — 
Thou,  who  makest  all  things  new  ! 


HIS   STAR   IN   THE  WEST. 

(READ  AT  A  REUNION,  MONTICELLO  SEMINARY,  ILLINOIS.) 

OUR  way  still  is  onward  ;   the  world  is  yet  young 
With  a  beauty  that  never  was  dreamed  of,  or  sung : 
Her  wonders  for  eyes  that  can  see  them  unfold ; 
And  the  heart  that  looks  forward  will  never  grow 
old. 

For  the  splendor  that  beckons  is  life  —  it  is  youth  ; 
The  sw,eetness  of  hope,  and  the  freshness  of  truth, 
That  make  a  perpetual  morning,  a  spring 
Where  the  flowers  always  blossom,  the  birds  always 
sing. 

Look  forward  !  move  onward !  the  new  work  to  do, 
Will  strengthen  our  sinews,  create  earth  anew ! 
There  are  suns  beyond  suns  ;  there  's  an  East  in  the 

West; 
In  all  unexplored  seas  there  are  Isles  of  the  Blest. 

The  years  gather  over  us  —  only  a  veil 

For  the  things  that  are  seen :  earthly  vision  must 

fail, 

That  the  heavenly  may  clear ;  the  awakening  soul 
Looks  up,  drops  the  fragments,  inherits  the  whole. 


HIS  STAR  IN   THE  WEST  93 

Lost  empires  in  Orient  oceans  are  drowned ; 

Not  the  Past,   but  the    Future,  comes   up   to   be 

crowned. 
Wise  men  in  the  East  with   a   great   light  were 

blest ; 
It  was  Bethlehem's  Star,  and  it  led  to  the  West. 

It  led  to  the  West,  and  it  greatened  and  glowed 
For  apostles  and  martyrs,  revealing  the  road  — 
Still  westward  —  those  pioneer-spirits  must  take, 
Who  would  bear  on  Christ's  gospel,  and  die  for  His 
sake. 

To  His  latter-day  triumph  the  rich  nations  bring 
Their  glory  and  honor ;  the  earth  knows  her  King. 
Our  planet  rolls  into  His  light  from  afar  ; 
The  true  star  of  empire  is  Bethlehem's  Star. 

The  kingdom  is  His ;  bring  Him  beauty  and  youth ! 
The  trophies  of  learning,  the  treasures  of  truth  ! 
Never  yet  was  a  conquest  of  science  complete 
Until  it  was  laid  at  the  Holy  Child's  feet. 

His  cradle  is  still  in  the  West,  as  of  old. 
Through  the  sunset  press  on,  until  sunrise  unfold 
The  light  that  was  never  on  land  or  on  sea  — 
The  light  of  His  coming,  the  Life  that  shall  be  ! 

By  the  glow  of  that  vision  we  read  what  we  lack ; 
Inspired,  not  disheartened  ;  the  beautiful  track 
Entices  the  traveler  forth,  day  by  day, 
Entranced  with  the  infinite  joy  of  the  way. 


94  GLIMPSES 

We  may  mourn  that  the  guerdon  we  seek  is  not 

gained ; 

That  the  heights  we  look  up  to,  remain  unattained ; 
But  we  lower  no  standard ;  the  Best  draws  us  on, 
Though  the  perfect  ideal  eludes  us,  unwon. 

We  shall  win  it,  O  dear  fellow-pilgrims !    We  kno\v 
The  voices   that  call    through    the   clear   Western 

glow. 

By  the  old  saints  forever  a  new  song  is  sung : 
Life  beckons,  us  on,  and  life  always  is  young. 


GLIMPSES. 

LIFE  comes  to  us  only  by  glimpses ; 

We  see  it  not  yet  as  a  whole, 
For  the  vapor,  the  cloud,  and  the  shadow 

That  over  it  surging  roll ; 
For  the  dimness  of  mortal  vision, 

That  mingles  the  false  with  the  true : 
Yet  its  innermost,  fathomless  meaning 

Is  never  quite  hidden  from  view. 

The  hills  lift  aloft  the  glad  secret ; 

It  is  breathed  by  the  whispering  leaves ; 
The  rivers  repeat  it  in  music  ; 

The  sea  with  its  harmony  heaves ; 
The  secret  of  that  living  gospel 

Which  freshened  the  veins  of  the  earth, 
When  Love,  named  in  heaven  the  Redeemer, 

Was  revealed  in  a  human  birth. 


GLIMPSES  95 

Life  shows  us  its  grandeur  by  glimpses ; 

For  what  is  this  wondrous  To-Day 
But  a  rift  in  the  mist-muffled  vastness 

Of  surrounding  eternity  ? 
One  law  for  this  hour  and  far  futures ; 

One  light  on  the  distant  and  near  ; 
The  bliss  of  the  boundless  hereafter 

Pulses  into  the  brief  moments  here. 

The  secret  of  life,  —  it  is  giving ; 

To  minister  and  to  serve  ; 
Love's  law  binds  the  man  to  the  angel, 

And  ruin  befalls,  if  we  swerve. 
There  are  breadths  of  celestial  horizons 

Overhanging  the  commonest  way ; 
The  clod  and  the  star  share  the  glory, 

And  to  breathe  is  an  ecstasy. 

Life  dawns  on  us,  wakes  us,  by  glimpses ; 

In  heaven  there  is  opened  a  door  !  — 
That  flash  lit  up  vistas  eternal ; 

The  dead  are  the  living  once  more  ! 
To  illumine  the  scroll  of  creation, 

One  swift,  sudden  vision  sufficed  : 
Every  riddle  of  life  worth  the  reading 

Has  found  its  interpreter  — Christ ! 


96  WHY  LIFE  IS  SWEET 


WHY  LIFE   IS   SWEET. 

BECAUSE  it  cometh  up,  a  heavenly  flower. 
Out  of  the  earth,  divinely  sown  therein, 

To  gather  grace  from  shadow  and  from  shower, 
And  freshness  of  invisible  worlds  to  win 

Unto  itself,  —  not  to  be  hoarded  there, 

But  for  the  sweetening  of  the  common  air. 

Because  it  breathes  in  and  exhales  God's  breath, 
Its  natural  atmosphere,  and  so  grows  strong 

To  root  itself  amid  decay  and  death, 

And  lift  its  head  above  the  poisonous  Wrong, 

And,  with  her  far-reaching  fibres,  push  apart 

The  noisome  evils  clutching  at  Earth's  heart. 

It  is  not  sweet,  but  bitter,  sad,  and  vain, 
Living  in  shows  of  what  we  are  or  do  ; 

The  after-taste  of  selfishness  is  pain  : 

In  hearts  that  grovel,  hope  must  grovel,  too ; 

Ever  our  petty  falsehoods  deathward  tend, 

Leave  us  defeated,  cheated  of  life's  end. 

It  is  not  sweet  to  compass  our  low  aim, 
And  sicken  of  it ;  nor  to  trail  the  wing 

In  dust,  whereon  celestial  dawn  should  flame. 

Even  love,  sin-touched,  is  an  unwholesome  thing, 

A  growth  reversed,  blight  clinging  into  blight ; 

Love,  meant  to  hallow  all  things  with  its  light. 

To  live  !  to  find  our  life  in  nobler  lives, 
Baptized  with  them  in  dews  of  holiness  : 


MORE  LIFE  97 

Strengthened,  upraised,  by  every  soul  that  thrives 

In  the  clear  air  of  perfect  righteousness, 
And  sheltering  that  which  might  for  frailty  die, 
When,  with  hot  feet,  the  whirlwind  rushes  by ! 

Oh,  sweet  to  live,  to  love,  and  to  aspire  ! 

To  know  that  whatsoever  we  attain, 
Beyond  the  utmost  summit  of  desire, 

Heights  upon  heights  eternally  remain, 
To  humble  us,  to  lift  us  up,  to  show 
Into  what  luminous  deeps  we  onward  go. 

Because  the  Perfect,  evermore  postponed, 
Yet  ever  beckoning,  is  our  only  goal ; 

Because  the  deathless  Love  that  sits  enthroned 
On  changeless  Truth,  holds  us  in  firm  control ; 

Because  within  God's  Heart  our  pulses  beat ; 

Because  His  Law  is  holy,  life  is  sweet ! 

Because  it  is  of  Him,  His  infinite  gift ; 

Lost,  but  restored  by  One  who  came  to  share 
His  riches  with  our  poverty,  and  lift 

The  human  to  the  heavenly,  everywhere ; 
Because  in  Christ  we  breathe  immortal  breath, 
Sweet,  sweet  is  life  !     He  hath  abolished  death ! 


MORE   LIFE. 

NOT  weary  of  Thy  world, 
So  beautiful,  O  Father,  in  Thy  love,  — 
Thy  world,  that,  glory-lighted  from  above, 

Lies  in  Thy  hand  impearled  : 


98  MORE  LIFE 

Not  asking  rest  from  toil ; 
Sweet  toil,  that  draws  us  nearer  to  Thy  side  ; 
Ever  to  tend  Thy  planting  satisfied, 

Though  in  ungenial  soil : 

Nor  to  be  freed  from  care, 
That  lifts  us  out  of  self's  lone  hollowness ; 
Since  unto  Thy  dear  feet  we  all  may  press, 

And  leave  our  burdens  there : 

\ 
But  oh,  for  health,  for  strength ! 

A  life  untainted  by  the  curse  of  sin, 
That  spreads  no  vile  contagion  from  within  ; 
Found  without  spot,  at  length ! 

For  power,  and  stronger  will 
To  pour  out  love  from  the  heart's  inmost  springs 
With  constant  freshness,  for  all  needy  things ; 

In  blessing,  blessed  still ! 

Oh,  to  be  clothed  upon 

With  the  white  radiance  of  a  heavenly  form  ! 
To  feel  the  winged  Psyche  quit  the  worm, 

Life,  life  eternal  won  ! 

Oh,  to  be  free,  heart-free 
From  all  that  checks  the  right  endeavor  here ! 
To  drop  the  weariness,  the  pain,  the  fear ! 

To  know  death  cannot  be ! 

Oh,  but  to  breathe  in  air 
Where  there  can  be  no  tyrant  and  no  slave  ; 


DRAWING  NEARER  99 

Where  every  thought  is  pure,  and  high,  and  brave, 
And  all  that  is,  is  fair  ! 

More  life  !  the  life  of  heaven  ! 
A  perfect  liberty  to  do  Thy  will  : 
Receiving  all  from  Thee,  and  giving  still, 

Freely  as  Thou  hast  given  ! 

More  life  !  a  prophecy 
Is  in  that  thirsty  cry,  if  read  aright : 
Deep  calleth  unto  deep  :     Life  Infinite, 

O  soul,  awaiteth  thee  ! 


DRAWING   NEARER. 

ARE  we  daily  drawing  nearer 
Thee,  the  Perfect,  the  Unseen? 

Grows  the  pathway  ever  clearer, 
Stretching  sense  and  God  between  ? 

Thine  own  messengers  beside  us 
Wait,  wherever  we  may  be  ; 

Earth  and  heaven  are  met,  to  guide  us 
Nearer  unto  Thee. 

In  the  web  of  beauty's  weaving, 
In  the  picture  and  the  song  ; 

In  our  dreaming  and  believing, 
By  our  friendships  borne  along ; 

By  our  own  heart's  human  story, 
By  the  light  on  land  and  sea, 

Glimpsing  unimagined  glory, 
Draw  we  nearer  Thee ? 


100  DRAWING  NEARER 

In  our  doings  and  ambitions, 

Heaping  gold  and  probing  thought ; 

In  crude  science,  worn  traditions, 
Finds  the  spirit  what  it  sought  ? 

In  the  tumult  of  the  nations, 
Surging  like  a  shoreward  sea, 

Are  Thy  sundered  congregations 
Gathering  unto  Thee  ? 

With  the  footsteps  of  the  ages, 
Are  we  drawing  nearer  Thee  ? 

Beautiful  upon  Time's  pages 
Will  our  name  and  record  be  ? 

Year  on  year  of  worthier  living 
Add  we  to  life's  glorious  sum  ?  — 

Through  our  failures,  Thy  forgiving, 
Lord,  Thy  kingdom  come  ! 

Over  fallen  towers  of  error, 

Laid  by  our  own  hands  in  dust ; 

Past  the  ghosts  of  doubt  and  terror ; 
Out  of  sloth's  in-eating  rust ; 

From  Gomorrah's  lurid  smouldering, 
Borders  of  the  drear  Dead  Sea ; 

Graves  where  selfish  loves  lie  mouldering, 
Fly  we  unto  Thee. 

Vain  a  secret  hoard  to  carry 

From  our  ruined  house  of  pride ; 

Weights  that  hinder,  fiends  that  harry, 
Are  the  idols  that  we  hide. 


DE AWING  NEAEER  101 

Draw  us  rather  by  the  sweetness 
Of  Thy  breath  in  living  things 
To  Thyself,  with  unclogged  fleetness 
Lifted,  as  on  wings  ! 

Dogmas  into  truth  transmuting, 

Fusing  differences  in  love  ; 
Creed  and  rite  no  more  disputing, 

Closing  rank  and  file  we  move ; 
Leaving  our  dead  Past  behind  us, 

Turning  not,  nor  looking  back  : 
May  no  wayside  glimmer  blind  us 
To  the  one  straight  track  ! 

Brother  hastening  unto  brother, 

Youth  rewakening  in  our  eyes, 
Loving  Thee  and  one  another, 

Find  we  our  lost  Paradise. 
Where  the  heart  is,  there  the  treasure ; 

Led  by  paths  we  cannot  see 

Unto  heights  we  cannot  measure, 

Draw  we  nearer  Thee ! 

Nearer  Thee,  through  every  seon, 

Every  universe  of  Thine  ! 
Man  and  seraph  swell  one  paean, 

Harmonizing  chords  divine. 
Thine  from  Thee  no  power  can  sever  ; 

Through  death's  veil  Thy  face  they  see ; 
Saved,  forever  and  forever 
Drawing  nearer  Thee  ! 


102  ACROSS  THE  E1VEE 


ACROSS  THE  RIVER. 

WHEN  for  me  the  silent  oar 

Parts  the  Silent  River, 
And  I  stand  upon  the  shore 

Of  the  strange  Forever, 
Shall  I  miss  the  loved  and  known  ? 
Shall  I  vainly  seek  mine  own  ? 

Mid  the  crowd  that  come  to  meet 

Spirits  sin-forgiven,  — 
Listening  to  their  echoing  feet 

Down  the  streets  of  heaven,  — 
Shall  I  know  a  footstep  near 
That  I  listen,  wait  for  here  ? 

Then  will  one  approach  the  brink 

With  a  hand  extended, 
One  whose  thoughts  I  loved  to  think 

Ere  the  veil  was  rended  ; 
Saying,  "  Welcome  !  we  have  died, 
And  again  are  side  by  side  ? ' 

Saying,  "  I  will  go  with  thee, 

That  thou  be  not  lonely. 
To  yon  hills  of  mystery  : 

I  have  waited  only 
Until  now,  to  climb  with  thee 
Yonder  hills  of  mystery." 

Can  the  bonds  that  make  us  here 
Know  ourselves  immortal, 


ACROSS  THE  RIVER  103 

Drop  away,  like  foliage  sear, 

At  life's  inner  portal  ? 
What  is  holiest  below 
Mast  forever  live  and  grow. 

I  shall  love  the  angels  well, 

After  I  have  found  them 
In  the  mansions  where  they  dwell, 

With  the  glory  round  them  : 
But  at  first,  without  surprise, 
Let  me  look  in  human  eyes. 

Step  by  step  our  feet  must  go 

Up  the  holy  mountain ; 
Drop  by  drop,  within  us  flow, 

Life's  unfailing  fountain. 
Angels  sing  with  crowns  that  burn  ; 
We  shall  have  our  song  to  learn. 

He  who  on  our  earthly  path 

Bids  us  help  each  other  — 
Who  his  Well-beloved  hath 

Made  our  Elder  Brother  — 
Will  but  clasp  the  chain  of  love 
Closer,  when  we  meet  above. 

Therefore  dread  I  not  to  go 

O'er  the  Silent  River. 
Death,  thy  hastening  oar  I  know ; 

Bear  me,  thou  Life-giver, 
Through  the  waters,  to  the  shore, 
Where  mine  own  have  gone  before ! 


104  A   YEAR  IN  HEAVEN 


A  YEAR  IN  HEAVEN. 

ONE  year  among  the  angels,  beloved,  thou  hast 

been  ; 
One  year  has  heaven's  white  portal  shut  back  the 

sound  of  sin  : 
yet  no  voice,  no  whisper,  comes  floating  down 

from  thee, 
To  tell  us  what  glad  wonder  a  year  of  heaven  may 

be. 

Our  hearts  before  it  listen,  the  beautiful  closed  gate  : 
The  silence  yearns  around  us ;  we  listen  and  we 

wait. 
It  is  thy  heavenly    birthday,   on    earth   thy  lilies 

bloom  ; 
In  thine  immortal  garland  canst  find  for  these  no 

room  ? 

Thou  lovedst  all  things  lovely  when  walking  with 

us  here ; 
Now,  from  the  heights  of  heaven,  seems  earth  no 

longer  dear  ? 
We  cannot  paint  thee  moving  in  white-robed  state 

afar, 
Nor  dream  our  flower  of  comfort  a  cool  and  distant 

star. 

Heaven  is  but  life  made  richer :  therein  can  be  no 

loss  ; 
To  meet  our  love  and  longing  thou  hast  no  gulf  to 

cross  ; 


A    YEAR  IN  HEAVEN  105 

No  adamant  between  us  uprears  its  rocky  screen  ; 
A  veil  before  us  only ;  thou  in  the  light  serene. 

That  veil  'twixt  earth  and  heaven  a  breath  might 

waft  aside  ; 
We  breathe  one  air,  beloved,  we  follow  one  dear 

Guide  : 
Passed   in  to    open   vision,  out  of   our   mists  and 


rain, 


Thou  seest  how  sorrow  blossoms,  now  peace  is  won 
from  pain. 

And  half  we  feel  thee  leaning  from  thy  deep  calm 

of  bliss, 

To  say  of  earth,  "  Beloved,  how  beautiful  it  is  ! 
The  lilies  in  this  splendor  —  the  green  leaves  in  this 

dew ;  — 
Oh,  earth  is  also  heaven,  with  God's  light  clothed 

anew !  ' 

So,  when  the  sky  seems  bluer,  and  when  the  blos 
soms  wear 

Some  tender,  mystic  shading  we  never  knew  was 
there, 

We  '11  say  "  We  see  things  earthly  by  light  of  sainted 
eyes; 

She  bends  where  we  are  gazing,  to-day,  from  Para 
dise." 

Because  we  know  thee  near  us,  and  nearer  still  to 

Him 
Who  fills  thy  cup  of  being  with  glory  to  the  brim, 


106  NEAR  SHORE 

We  will  not  stain  with  grieving  our  fair,  though 

fainter  light, 
But  cling  to  thee  in  spirit  as  if  thou  wert  in  sight. 

And  as  in  waves  of  beauty   the   swift  years  come 

and  go, 

Upon  celestial  currents  our  deeper  life  shall  flow, 
Hearing,  from  that  sweet  country  where  blighting 

never  came, 

Love  chime  the  hours  immortal,  in  earth  and  heaven 
the  same. 


NEAR   SHORE. 

THE  seas  of  thought  are  deep  and  wide ; 
Let  those  who  will,  O  friend  of  mine, 
Sail  forth  without  a  chart  or  guide, 
Or  plummet-line  ; 

A  blank  of  waters  all  around ; 
A  blank  of  azure  overhead  ; 
An  infinite  of  nothing  found, 

Whence  faith  has  fled. 

The  Name  that  we  with  reverence  speak, 
Echoes  across  those  wastes  of  thought ; 
But  they  who  go  far  off  to  seek, 
They  hear  it  not. 

t 

The  shores  give  back  its  sweetest  sound 
From  rivulet  cool,  and  shadowing  rock, 


'NEAR  SHORE  107 

And  voices  that  calm  hearths  surround 
With  friendly  talk. 

Earth  is  our  little  island  home, 

And  heaven  the  neighboring  continent, 
Whence  winds  to  every  inlet  come 
With  balmiest  scent. 

And  tenderest  whispers  thence  we  hear 
From  those  who  lately  sailed  across. 
They  love  us  still ;  since  heaven  is  near, 
Death  is  not  loss. 

From  mountain  slopes  of  breeze  and  balm, 

What  melodies  arrest  the  oar ! 
What  memories  ripple  through  the  calm  ! 
We  '11  keep  near  shore. 

By  sweet  home  instincts  wafted  on, 

By  all  the  hopes  that  life  has  nursed, 
We  hasten  where  the  loved  have  gone, 
Who  landed  first. 

If  God  be  God,  then  heaven  is  real : 

We  need  not  lose  ourselves  and  Him 
In  some  vast  sea  of  the  ideal, 
Dreamy  and  dim. 

He  cheats  not  any  soul.     He  gave 

Each  being  unity  like  His  ; 
Love,  that  links  beings,  He  must  save  ; 
Of  Him  it  is. 


108  LOVE'S  LATE  REMORSE 

Dear  friend,  we  will  not  drift  too  far 

Mid  billows,  fogs,  and  blinding  foam, 
To  see  Christ's  beacon-light  —  the  star 
That  guides  us  home. 

Moving  towards  heaven,  we  '11  meet  half-way 

Some  pilot  from  that  unseen  strand  ; 
Then,  anchoring  safe  in  perfect  day, 
Tread  the  firm  land. 

Thence  onward  and  forever  on 

Toward  summits  piled  on  summits  bright : 
The  lost  are  found,  and  we  have  won 
The  Land  of  Light ! 

God  is  that  country's  glory :  He 
Alike  the  confidence  is  found, 
Of  those  who  try  the  uncertain  sea, 
Or  solid  ground. 

Yet  we,  for  love  of  those  who  bend 

From  yon  clear  heights,  passed  on  before 
To  wait  our  coming,  —  we,  dear  friend, 
Will  keep  near  shore. 


LOVE'S   LATE   REMORSE. 

How  will  it  be 

When  you  at  last  in  heaven  we  see,  — 
Dear  souls,  whose  footsteps  in  lost  days, 
Made  musical  earth's  toil-worn  ways, 


LOVE'S  LATE  REMORSE  109 

While  we  not  half  the  loneliness 
That  bound  you  to  our  side  could  guess  ? 
Where  angels  know  your  footfall,  we 
Are  fain  to  be. 

We  never  knew  — 
So  heedlessly  we  walked  with  you  — 
The  drops  we  jostled  from  your  cup, 
That,  spilt,  could  not  be  gathered  up : 
We  might  have  given  you  foam  and  glow 
From  our  own  beaker's  overflow  ;  — 
Ah !  what  we  might  have  been  to  you, 

We  never  knew ! 

We  might  have  lent 

Such  strength,  such  comfort  and  content 
To  you,  out  of  our  ample  store  : 
We  might  have  hastened  on  before 
To  lift  the  shadows  from  your  way, 
Darkened,  ere  noon,  to  twilight's  gray ; 
With  earth's  cold  air  love's  warm  heart-scent 

We  might  have  blent. 

Dear,  wistful  eyes, 
Ye  haunt  us  with  your  kind  surprise, 
Your  tender  wonder  that  a  heart 
Should  thus  be  left  alone,  apart, 
So  loving,  so  misunderstood 
By  us,  in  our  self-centred  mood : 
Alas  !  in  vain  to  you  arise 

Our  longing  cries ! 


110  FOR  LARGER  LIVES 

Oh,  will  you  wait 
For  us,  beyond  the  shining  gate  ? 
Though  lovely  gifts  behind  you  left, 
We  want  yourselves  :  we  are  bereft. 
From  your  new  mansion  glorious 
Will  you  lean  out  to  look  for  us  ? 
Shut  is  the  far-off,  shining  gate  :  — 

Are  we  too  late  ? 


FOR  LARGER  LIVES. 

heaven,  they  say,  is  undisturbed  and  perfect 
peace ;  and  yet 

Along  our  heart-strings,  even  there,  a  tremor  of  re 
gret 

Must  sometimes  wander  into  pain,  if  memory  sur 
vives,  — 

A  grief,  that  in  this  good,  great  world  we  lived  not 
larger  lives. 

God  moves  our  planet  gloriously  among  His  starry 

spheres ; 
And  nobler  movements  for  our  souls  through  these 

our  mortal  years, 
In  widening  orbits  toward    Himself    eternally  He 

planned :  — 
We  creep  and  rust  in  treadmill  grooves  ;  we  will 

not  be  made  grand. 

He  sent  us  forth,  His  children,  of  His  inmost  life  a 
part; 


FOR  LARGER  LIVES  111 

His  breath,  His  being  ;  each  a  throb  of  His  deep 

Father-heart ; 
He  shaped  us  in  His  image,  suns,  to  flood  His  worlds 

with  day :  — 
Alas  !   we  stifle  down  His  light,  and  deaden  into 

clay. 

Meant  to  be  living  fountains,  —  not  little  stagnant 

pools. 
Stirred  aimlessly  from  shallow  depths,  walled  round 

with  petty  rules, 
Drying  away  to  dust  at  last,  —  to  Him  we  might 

ascend, 
And  with  the  River  of  His  Life  in  crystal  freshness 

blend. 

To  share  His  freedom  —  sons  of  God  !     There  is 

no  other  aim 

Can  kindle  any  human  hope  to  an  immortal  flame ! 
It  is  the  keenest  shame  of  these  mean,  fettered  lives 

we  lead,  — 
We  choose  the  weights  that  drag  us  down,  refusing 

to  be  freed. 

Yet  souls  that  win  immortal  heights  un clogged  with 

self  must  move : 
The   only   thing  that  we  can  take   from  earth  to 

heaven  is  love. 
To  make  us  great  like  Thee,  0  God !  Thy  Spirit 

with  us  strives  :  — 
Enlarge  our  hearts  to  take  Thee  in !     O  give  us 

nobler  lives ! 


112  THE  PERFECT  WORD 


THE   PERFECT  WORD. 

How  satisfying  is  a  perfect  word  ! 

How  great,  to  know  the  truth,  and  utter  it 
So  that  it  shall  eternally  be  heard, 

And  worlds  together  in  its  chords  he  knit ! 

Who  speaks  for  beauty,  Beauty's  self  must  be, 
And  not  her  language  with  vain  lips  repeat,  — 

Mere  tinkling  cymbals,  hollow  melody 

Wearying  the  air  with  mockery  most  unsweet  I 

Out  of  this  half-articulate  earthly  speech, 
This  broken  jargon  from  each  other  caught, 

This  jangled  medley  of  our  songs,  we  reach 

Toward  some  divine  expression  of  our  thought. 

Somewhere  above  the  selfish  jar  and  fret, 
The  deathly  silence,  deathlier  noise  of  sin, 

Mercy  and  truth  and  righteousness  have  met, 
And  souls  to  that  vast  concord  enter  in. 

They  know  the  Life  itself,  the  visible  Word, 

The  music  of  eternal  overflow 
From  central  ocean-streams  of  being,  stirred 

With  the.  first  rapture  of  creation's  glow. 

I 

But   men  with   falsehood   blur  what   God  speaks 
plain  ; 

His  message  hourly  mistranslated  is. 
Dear  angels,  heal  us  of  our  discord's  pain ! 

Lend  us  the  keynote  of  your  harmonies  ! 


A  DOOE  OPENED  113 

Sweeter  than  any  sound  by  angels  heard, 

Whispered  or  sung   through   their  unwithering 
bowers, 

CHRIST  is  the  beautiful,  eternal  Word, 

Breathed  from  God's  heart  into  this  world  of  ours. 

That  Word  Jehovah  spake,  that  men  might  see 
The  meaning  of  their  being,  hid  in  Him  ; 

Each  human  birth  a  possibility, 

That  well  might  wake  the  silent  seraphim. 

Yet  loftiest  seraph-lyres  can  but  rehearse 
Suggestions  faint  of  His  unfolding  plan, 

Whose  perfect  Word  unto  His  universe 
Is,  and  forever  must  be,  God  in  man  ! 

A  DOOR  OPENED. 

MIGHT  a  door  but  be  opened  in  heaven  ! 

Might  we  look  for  a  moment  within  ! 
Might  only  one  comforting  glimpse  be  given, 

Of  the  life  that  we  hope  to  win  ! 

A  door  has  been  opened  in  heaven  :  — 

Its  glory  shone  full  on  the  earth, 
When  the  clouds  of  her  midnight  were  smitten  and 
riven 

By  the  joy  of  the  Christ-Child's  birth. 

And  a  door  is  yet  opened  in  heaven  ; 

Its  light  floods  our  world  to  its  brim, 
When   a  soul,  for  His  truth  having  suffered  and 
striven, 

Ascends,  a  crowned  conqueror,  to  Him. 


114  TRANSFIGURED 


TRANSFIGURED. 

YES,  heaven  has  come  down  to  meet  us ; 

It  hangs  in  our  atmosphere  ; 
Its  beautiful  open  secret 

Is  whispered  in  every  ear. 

And  everywhere,  here  and  always, 

If  we  would  but  open  our  eyes, 
We  should  find,  through  these  beaten  footpaths, 

Our  way  into  Paradise. 

We  should  walk  there  with  one  another ; 

Nor  halting,  disheartened,  wait 
To  enter  a  dreamed-of  City 

By  a  far-off,  shadowy  Gate. 

Dull  earth  would  be  dull  no  longer ; 

The  clod  would  sparkle  a  gem  ; 
And  our  hands,  at  their  commonest  labor, 

Would  be  building  Jerusalem. 

For  the  clear,  cool  river  of  Eden 

Flows  fresh  through  our  dusty  streets  ; 

We  may  feel  its  spray  on  our  foreheads 
Amid  wearisome  noontide  heats. 

We  may  share  the  joy  of  God's  angels, 
On  the  errands  that  He  has  given  ; 

We  may  live  in  a  world  transfigured, 
And  sweet  with  the  air  of  heaven. 


ELIZABETH  115 

ELIZABETH. 

E.  H.  W. 

September  3,  1864. 

A  WHITE  stone  glimmers  through  the  firs, 
The  dry  grass  on  her  grave-mound  stirs  ; 

The  sunshine  scarcely  warms  the  skies  ; 
Pale  cloudlets  fleck  the  chilly  blue  ; 
The  dawn  brings  frost  instead  of  dew 

To  the  bleak  hillside  where  she  lies. 

'T  is  something  to  be  near  the  place 

Where  earth  conceals  her  dear,  dead  face ;  — 

But  thou,  true  heart,  thou  art  not  there  ! 
Where  now  thou  art  beloved  and  known, 
Love  makes  a  climate  of  its  own  ; 

Perpetual  summer  in  the  air. 

The  language  of  that  neighboring  land 
Already  thou  didst  understand, 

Already  breathe  its  healthful  breath, 
Before  thy  feet  its  shores  had  pressed  ; 
There  wert  thou  an  awaited  guest, 

At  home  in  heaven,  Elizabeth  ! 

I  try  to  guess  what  radiance  now 
Is  resting  on  that  gentle  brow, 
Lovelier  than  shone  upon  it  here ; 


116  ELIZABETH 

What  heavenly  work  thou  hast  begun, 
What  new,  immortal  friendships  won, 
That  make  the  life  unseen  so  dear. 

I  cannot  think  that  any  change 
Could  ever  thy  sweet  soul  estrange 

From  the  familiar  human  ties  ; 
Thou  art  the  same,  though  inmost  heaven 
Its  wisdom  to  thy  thought  has  given, 

Its  beauty  kindled  in  thine  eyes. 

The  same  to  us,  as  warm,  as  true, 
Whatever  beautiful  or  new 

With  thy  unhindered  growth  may  blend 
Here,  as  life  broadens,  love  expands  ; 
How  must  it  bloom  in  those  free  lands 

Where  thou  dost  walk,  beloved  friend  ! 

I  do  not  know  what  death  may  mean  ; 
No  gates  can  ever  shut  between 

True  heart  and  heart,  Elizabeth  ; 
'T  is  but  to  step  from  time's  rude  strife 
A  little  farther  into  life, 

And  there  thou  art,  Elizabeth  ! 
AMESBURY,  MASS.,  December,  1883. 


.. 


WITHDRAWAL  117 

WITHDRAWAL. 

J.    G.    W. 

September  7,  1892. 

WAS  it  thy  step  on  the  mountain-side  ? 

Was  it  thy  voice  in  the  air  ?  — 
Strange  beauty  illumined  the  landscape  wide  ; 

The  world  lay  in  heaven-light  there. 

And   a  whisper,  a  breath,  through  my  trouble 
went ;  — 

Did  a  soul  speak,  passing  by  ?  — 
Ah,  see  how  the  heights  and  the  levels  are  blent, 

How  the  peaks  are  dissolved  in  the  sky ! 

11  One  tender  suffusion  of  splendor  is  this,  — 

Blue  summits  and  meadows  green  ! 
So  peaceful,  so  soft  the  withdrawal  is 
Of  a  life  into  Light  unseen." 

—  Thy  spirit  was  passing  —  I  knew  it  not  — 

Beyond  the  light  of  the  sun ! 
And   the   world  thou  hast  left  has  a  radiance 
caught 

From  the  glory  that  thou  hast  won. 

And  my  soul  arises  and  follows  thine 
Up  the  luminous  heavenward  slope  ; 

For  thy  beautiful  footprints  make  earth  divine 
With  the  glow  of  a  deatldess  hope. 

On  Moosilauke  Mountain,  N.  H. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


Form  L9-Series  444 


£ 


1 


Q 


I 


C  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


»      Ji  ••••••   I    II 

A  A      000034502    5 


